


Lost love

by thedollars666



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-06 15:50:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 24,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10338262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedollars666/pseuds/thedollars666
Summary: After losing Jack in his timeline, Daniel enters the Quantum mirror in hopes of being reunited with his lost love. It doesn't quite work out the way he had expected. For his penance, he pays the ultimate price.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This roughly takes place between season 7 and 8

General Hammond, Jack and Daniel were sat in Hammond's office; Jack looked just as annoyed as he was letting on. “Damn stupid pain in the asses” he muttered, his head rose from the floor he was staring at. “General, this is ridiculous; of all the democratic bulls-” 

“Colonel!” Hammond yelled sternly

“Well I'm sorry general, but our government cannot negotiate for crap! Its bad enough Russia want in on what goes on around here; now the fricking Germans want their own base!? Have they lost all sense of reason!?”

“Jack, you have to cut them a little slack” Daniel said “I mean, would you be all right just sitting back while some other country was secretly holding a piece of alien technology capable of going to other planets?” 

Jack looked at Daniel, as if the man should know his answer “I don't care, this treaty has already been met, at least it was suppose to be; we won the argument did we not?” 

The general replied to Jack's question “Unfortunately there are still a few things that need to be smoothed over; apparently even though the leaders of said countries agreed, Germany have got in a twist about the whole thing; I don't know where the rumor came from, but we're now apparently using the Stargate as more of an advantage to plot against our own planet” Hammond said

“They can't be serious? I mean, after everything we've shown them? Everything we've accomplished and not once have we ever used it on our own people, now they're turning it against us?” Daniel was stunned

“The joint chiefs and the president have made a decision to set up a meeting in Washington with the government leaders of Germany”

“Demands?” Daniel asked. 

“They want the authority to control the alpha site as their new base” 

“Over my dead body!” Jack yelled. 

“Well that's up to our president isn't it? What are they gonna do If their demands aren't met?” Daniel asked wearily

“Go public” 

Daniels eyes widen. “They can't, they signed a disclosure form!” 

“They have enough evidence now to go public and If that happens; all treaties with the other supportive countries over the Stargate program will be cut”

“You're kidding right?” Daniel asked, Although he knew it was a stupid question.

“Afraid not, the Germans need to be convinced that what we do here is not a matter of control; they need to see what we've done.....on a matter of desperation, the president has authorized a complete clearance of our reports and resources in an effort to prove the program is in the right state where it belongs and that we need no other outside help that may jeopardize that” 

Jack frowned angrily “Why now!? Why after all this time are the damn Germans so interested!?” 

“I’m not entirely sure on that myself, but from what I can tell; Because we gave the Russians their own team, and they also had their own Stargate for a while...” 

“That's it?” Daniel asked

“All this hoo ha, so what- they're jealous!?” Jack wasn't sure he believed all this, threatening the program with publicity over jealously?

“When is this suppose to be discussed?” Daniel asked. 

“Tomorrow, actually, this is why I called you in here for the discussion Doctor Jackson, The president has asked for your views and expertise personally, to help get the Germans to agree”

“Me?” 

“Him?” Jack said

“He believes you're the only one who can help smooth over some ruffled feathers, he's going by your knowledge and advanced linguistic skills, and he knows you also helped broker the deal with Russia” 

“Well um-I'm not a politician sir-” 

“Nonetheless, he believes you to be the right man for the job, you've had as much experience off world as either Jack or Colonel Carter” 

“Whose gonna temporarily be on my team?” Jack began to question. “And please-at least give me someone who at least knows how to fire a weapon other then just holding it while trying to look scary, no offence Daniel” Daniel glared at Jack for a moment, he knew Jack was talking about the early years; the general almost chuckled. 

“The rest of SG1 will be on standby until Doctor Jackson returns, the president doesn't think it will take any more then a couple of days” 

Daniel raised an eyebrow “He thinks I’m that good?” 

“The president has the utmost confidence in your skills” 

“Oh, so no pressure or anything...” 

“It's also not an order son” 

Daniel smiled and nodded “Thank you, I’ll do it” 

“There'll be a plane waiting for you at the airport at 0800 tomorrow” 

“Ok” 

….........................................

 

What the hell was the president thinking when they picked him as their representative for the SGC. He leaned forward in his chair, and almost jumped at the sound when the man sitting next to president Köhler slammed his fist on the table. “Der Beweis ist noch zu bestimmten Doctor Jackson, wo sind die Mission Dateien, die ich versprochen wurde!?” (The evidence is still uncertain Doctor Jackson, where are the mission files I was promised!?)

Daniel linked his hands on the table, to stop himself from lashing out. He looked at the president, trying to remain calm. “Herr Präsident, ich meine, keine Beleidigung, und obwohl ich kann fließend Deutsch sprechen, aber könnten wir uns weiterhin dieses Vertrags in Englisch bitte?” (Mr President, I mean no offense, and although I can speak fluent German, but could we continue this treaty in english for the duration?) the president nodded and turned to his trusted associate. 

“Doctor Jackson hat gefordert, dass Englisch als Sprache für den Rest dieser Sitzung” Mr heinrich glared at Daniel for a moment and then nodded. 

“Very well” 

Daniel gave him an appreciative smile, though forced as it was. “Ok, as I was saying, all I was stating was the importance of the missions when we go through the gate” 

“We know about the importance Doctor Jackson, get to the part about why we shouldn't be a part of this from a more bigger perspective!” Daniel counted backwards from ten in his head. This was going to be a loooong meeting.

….................................

Jack, Sam and Teal'c half ran into the control room; things around the base had been quiet. No unscheduled off-world activity, it had been as smooth as it could be, albeit, a little boring. “What we got general?” Jack questioned as he folded his arms

Walter replied “Sir, we're receiving an IDC but-” he cut himself off, Sam and the other three look down. “It's um...an SG1 iris code-sir” 

Jack raised an eyebrow “Excuse me?” 

“Can you identify?” the General asked. 

“No sir”. 

“It's risky, but it's your call sir” Jack said, willing to support the General If he decided to take it. 

“Open the iris” Hammond ordered and then spoke through the mic. “Heads up people” 

Sam nervously bit her lip, but she couldn't help but be intrigued, maybe it was a team member from the future? Or past? or-

Everyone stared open mouthed as someone who looked very familiar stepped through the gate. “Oh my god” Sam said, impressed she found her voice. 

“What-the-hell?” 

“Is that who I think it is?” the General asked.

Jack frowned in confusion “Yes sir...I guess, but he's suppose to be in Washington” 

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. “I do not believe this is our Daniel Jackson” Jack turned to face him. 

“What do you mean, not our Daniel?” 

“I think he's right sir, I mean, yes, it is Daniel, but not...our Daniel” Sam said

“Ok-I...what?” 

Sam, Teal'c and the General walked out of the control room and into the gate room. “Hey” Daniel gave a little wave “I know this is...um, you know who I am though, right?” 

“Of course” Sam said. 

“Thank god, for a minute there I thought I’d come through to a time line where no one knew who I was again,” Daniel smiled a little “That didn't sound confusing did it?”

Sam shook her head, “Daniel, where did you come from?” 

Daniel pointed behind him “The Stargate,” Daniel pursed his lips “Sorry, um, area 51 actually” Sam raised her eyebrows

“Area 51?”

“Yes, I was there and-there was a shipment...it's a long story” 

“Doctor Jackson, what are you doing here? I'm too assume you're not-” the general stated

“Oh, right, no, I’m not your Daniel; just-you know, alternate reality stuff” 

“We sort of figured that much” Sam said, she smiled a little; Daniel felt a little less uncomfortable then. 

“Sorry for just dropping into your reality like this it's just that I-” Jack then came up and stood beside Sam, Daniels eyes widen. “Jack...” 

“Yeh, Daniel, what's up? Felt like a quick trip to a different reality did we?” they noticed Daniel seemed lost for words. 

“Um...yeh, sort of...I can't...it's really you” 

“The one and only, well, of this reality anyway, in the flesh” 

“I just-...I knew I’d see you, but...I didn't think, I mean....” 

“To what reason are you here Daniel Jackson?” Daniel looked over at the Jaffa, somewhat able to find his voice again. 

“Right, um, it's really a long story-I-where am I in your reality exactly?” 

“Washington, you're trying to win a treaty for us with the Germans” Jack said, he couldn't help but feel like he was being checked out. 

“Oh, good for me, not dead then?” 

Sam couldn't help but chuckle “No, you're alive and well” 

“That's good...” Jack couldn't help but notice he seemed a little disappointed by that. Daniel tore his eyes away from the Colonel and gestured to the guards. “You mind er, telling them to stop pointing their weapons?” he asked, though nicely. 

“Stand down” the General said. The airmen lowered their weapons, they still had a hard time believing what they were seeing.

“I promise, I’ll explain everything” Daniel said 

The general motioned for him to follow them out. “Infirmary first, you know the routine check” he said. 

“I know, thank you” Daniel replied as he stepped off the ramp. He paused beside Jack, “It's....it's good to see you...Jack” Daniel refrained from giving any kind of physical contact, he just smiled and choked back the hurt as he passed him. 

“Err...thanks” Jack said in confusion as they watched him retreat, he looked at Sam who just shrugged. They then followed after Daniel.

Daniel sat on one of the beds as Janet went through the routine examination check. “How's Cassandra?” Janet chuckled a little “What? we did rescue her here didn't we?” 

“Of course, but-well, usually you just call her Cassie” 

“Oh” 

“Seems like you picked a reality much like your own” 

“Here's hoping....” 

Jack then walked in, followed by the rest of SG1, “So, this is Daniel right?” 

“Yes sir, in every physical way, right down to his appendix scar” Daniel tried his hardest not to blush and turned toward them. 

“About why you're here?” Jack pushed, Daniel couldn't help but stare at him “Daniel?” the archaeologist shook his head. 

“Right, sorry, um, briefing room?” 

Jack nodded, he turned to Janet. “Wanna sit in on this? You have a right to know what's going on to” 

“Sure, thank you Colonel” 

“Jack-...can, can I talk to you for a second?” Jack nodded at his team to go ahead, they left the room and Jack turned his full attention to Daniel

“What's up?” 

Jack noticed the dog tags around Daniels neck “Change of profession?” Daniel raised an eyebrow as he stopped playing with the tags. 

“What do you mean?” 

“You in the military?”

Daniel chuckled “God no, I’m still usual me, archaeologist” 

“So what's with the tags?” 

“Actually” Daniel began as he took them off and placed them in Jack's palm, suppressing the urge to hold it. 

“These are mine...” Jack said as he read them

“Yeh...you...you died, about six months ago” 

“Ah...but these usually go to a family member, or the widow, how come you have them? We brothers?” it was then Daniel realized Jack had no intimate attachment to him in this reality. It hurt, and he forced himself not to show it. 

“No...um, they do go out to the spouse, the widow...but in this case, I am the widow-er” Jack took a tentative step back as he handed Daniel back the tags 

“Oh...you mean, you and I were-...” 

“Yeh...I gather you and this Daniel didn't-” 

“No, no, not ever...we're, friends” 

Daniel nodded. “Friends...” 

“Look, I’m sorry but-” 

“No, it's ok, it's my fault, when I entered the quantum mirror, I should have been more prepared for this. But I just- I wanted to see you again...” 

“Daniel, If you came to this reality to-then I can't help you” 

“No, well...it was part of it, but I do have another reason” 

“Good” Jack then walked away, Daniel bit his lip, trying to prevent any tears that might form. In every physical way, it was his Jack. But Jack had completely changed his attitude toward him as soon as he found out about how close he and Daniel were. His mind turned cold and his heart shut him out.

Daniel seated himself in the black swirling chair next to Jack, he turned to notice Jack staring at him. “What?” 

“Nothing” they seated themselves accordingly, the General at the head of table.

Daniel cleared his throat “If I may, I'd like to start by explaining some of the things that maybe different here, then in my reality” 

Jack gave an irritated sigh “Believe me, the major difference is done, we don't need details” Sam gave him a strange look, she then looked at Daniel who tried to avoid her gaze so that she couldn't see the hurt in his eyes. 

“Continue Doctor Jackson, I want details” Hammond said

Jack sighed a little, Daniel nodded and began. “First of all, Anubis is dead, right?”  
“He is now” Jack said. 

Daniel glanced up in surprise. “So Anubis is dead, Apophis, Hathor, Seth..” 

“Let me save you some time, all dead” Jack said. 

“Right...” 

“Well, except for Ba'al..I think, not really sure what happened to him” Jack then replied. 

“Ba'al's not dead?” 

“He is in yours?” 

Daniel nodded. “There are also five members of SG1 in my reality”  
“Five? Whose the fifth?” Sam asked

“Jonas”

“Jonas Quinn?” Sam asked for confirmation. 

“Yes” 

“So you still went to kelowna?” she asked. 

“Oh yeh, but um...let's not talk about that mission, assuming I um-” Daniel gestured with his hands upwards. 

“Went glowy?” Jack said with a slight frown, everyone else gave their own uncomfortable expression with the subject.

“Yes, Although you called it 'the act of everything that is stupid'” 

“I’m not wrong” 

Daniel nodded, allowing himself a smile, even If for a split second he could pretend Jack was ok with him. 

“Well anyway, after I came back, Jonas continued on as SG1 with us; we made a good team” Daniel looked over at Sam “You, you actually made a good pair” 

Sam’s eyes widened “What?” 

“What!?” Jack shouted, then looked at Sam. “Jonas!?” Sam held her hands up 

“Sorry sir, his reality not ours” 

“But still, Jonas, really?” 

“He wasn't a bad guy, not that I would have-” Sam stammered out. 

“Well in my reality you did,...what else-” 

“How about you get to the point on why you're here, except for the part that we won't get into” Daniel glared at him, he was feeling annoyed as much as he was hurting; like it was his fault that they were an item in one reality but not in this one. 

“Right...well, in my reality; Jack was KIA....” everyone fell silent and seemed to tense.

Jack frowned in annoyance “Is there a reality where I haven't died already?”

“Well there are a huge number of possible realities-” Sam shut up when Jack scowled at her. “Sorry sir” 

Janet then asked the next question “How was the Colonel killed Daniel?”

“It was late December, me and Jack were travelling back from Washington, we stopped off at a near quiet town for gas and some food supplies. We filled up the truck and headed into a local store, as we were grabbing supplies we heard a strange voice. We turned around to catch a glimpse of this guys eyes glowing” 

Sam's eyes widened “He was a Goa'uld? On earth?” 

“Yeh...,at some point the Goa'uld grabbed a woman by the throat; I um...I tried to intervene” 

Jack rolled his eyes “Naturally” he said, apparently Daniel in that reality couldn't stay out of trouble either. 

“He let the woman go and turned his attention to me... I was flung back into a pile of baskets; when I got to my feet-he had an earth weapon, I would have taken the bullet If-....” Daniel closed his eyes

“Take your time Doctor Jackson” 

“I’m fine...” Daniel opened his eyes, Sam spotted the unshed tears in them but she didn't say anything. “The next thing I knew, Jack had pushed me aside when the gun went off....If it weren't for everyone else’s safety I would have shut down there and then. I was so angry, I grabbed my side arm from the back of my pants and fired as many bullets as was necessary to take him out.....someone called an ambulance, but it wasn't enough time; Jack was already gone before they got there...” for once Jack remained quiet, while he wasn't comfortable with their apparent relationship; he could tell Daniel was still mourning. 

Sam then spoke softly “Do you know who this Goa'uld was Daniel?” Daniel looked up, despair, anger and loss written in his clouded eyes.

“I don't care...he's dead, I killed him, now you have to do the same before he-...” 

“Is it possible that the Goa'uld may not be on earth in this reality?” Teal'c asked. 

“I don't know” 

The general leaned forward, a serious tone to his voice “In any case, we cannot risk leaving the matter alone with one so important, there could be a Goa'uld out there, it wouldn't hurt to look” 

“I’ll write down the location of the town” the general nodded. 

“What's this Goa'uld look like?” Jack said. 

“I-...to be honest, I don't remember” 

“You don't remember!?” 

“My mind is still fuzzy in some areas from that day; they told me it would happen, said that I may not get those memories back; I just wish there were other parts of that day I couldn't remember” 

“Do you at least remember what day it was?” 

Daniel was silent for a moment “Christmas eve....” everyone fell silent 

“Oh...” 

“That's only a month away” Sam blurted out

“Do the Math did ya?” 

Daniel smiled in spite of himself, he had missed him so much; even his unwanted sarcasm. 

“If it's only a month away, he's probably in the town already, it sounds like he'd been there a while” Sam replied. 

“As soon as Doctor Jackson gets back, our Doctor Jackson, I want you all on this,” the General spoke again, then added. “In the meantime, I’ll see If there are any odd reports connecting the Goa'uld to the town” Daniel then tore a bit of paper from his pad and wrote the towns name and location then handed it to the General. “Thank you” Daniel merely nodded. Hammond left the table and made his way to make a few phone calls. 

“I know this must be hard, are you sure you don't remember anything about him?” Sam asked him as softly as possible. Daniels hands clenched around the note pad he was holding. 

“The only thing I remember about that bastard is that he killed my Fiance” he replied with gritted teeth. Jack winced, they stared over at him and then back to Daniel. 

Sam's eyes went wider “Fiance?” 

“Yes, we were engaged and that damn Goa'uld took him from me, so....I took his life” Daniel then left the briefing room so he could hide his current state of emotion. 

“Wow...huh, that's odd” Sam said. 

“Odd? That's it? That's all you have to say?” 

“What else am I meant to say? It's possible”

“I don't care, there's no possible about it, 1-DADT Carter, and 2 – we're both straight, at least, in this reality, and 3 – Jonas!?” Sam rolled her eyes. 

“Clearly you and Daniel Jackson shared a well intimate bond” Teal'c piped in.

Jack screwed up his face “That's weird! Not me and Daniel, there will be no me and Daniel, we're close friends and I love him like a brother, but- no, no, and no” 

Sam smiled a little. “Colonel, If you saw that look in his eyes, he's grieving, he's not just mourning the loss of a close friend, he's grieving for the loss of his love” 

Jack stared at her for a moment “See that's weird” 

“Whatever you may think on the matter, it is clear Daniel Jackson loved you” 

“Him! He loved him, I’m not him” 

“We know that, just Because you and Daniel in another reality became, or were together, that doesn't mean anything for this reality” Jack gave her an incredulous look

Jack leaned back in his chair “So you're saying its actually possible for both of us to what? Be gay in another reality?” 

Sam shrugged. “I’d say bi in your cases” she replied with a little grin, she couldn't help but feel a little amused. 

Jack placed his forehead on the desk “Oy, that's staying off the report” 

Daniel walked into a room lightly decorated with a few picture frames of planes. He was told he could stay here for a while, it was kind of nice to be with his friends again. After Jack died, he became distant and out of touch; they tried to help him through it, but he just put up a barrier after a while. He shut the door with a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes, now that he was alone he could let go a little. Clutching the tags from his neck, he sunk to the floor. “Damn it....” he pulled out a little picture from his Jacket pocket. 

It was a small picture, but it was the only one he really had; they couldn't risk many photos of them together, it was his favorite; one of the times when they could be natural and comfortable with one another, he just couldn't remember who took the photo. Little drops began to decorate the picture, Daniel wiped his eyes quickly but more came. “I miss you so much....Jack” he buried his head against his propped up knees, his arms coming around to hug them as he clutched the picture.

A few hours later, Daniel was sat up against the headboard of the bed, he was staring at the ring he was holding up; it wasn't anything special, a silver band with a red stone in it for the color of his birthstone. He never wore it around the SGC, or around their friends. But when they were alone, they both wore them. A knock on the door startled him. “Come in” he frowned as his voice came out croaky, he shook his head to get himself together. 

Sam poked her head through the door, “Daniel?” 

“Hey Sam....” 

“I err...I just wanted to see If you were ok” 

“Under the circumstances?” Sam nodded “Peachy...” Daniel muttered

Sam chuckled “You got the Colonel in you” 

Daniel smiled a little “I’m sorry” he said. 

“For what?”

“For causing any awkwardness” 

“You don't have to apologize, it doesn't matter to me or Teal'c, and you know what the Colonel is like; he knows you can't help it” 

“Are....are you and Jack...a couple?” he stuttered out and then cursed “I’m sorry I shouldn't...I've no right to ask that”

“It's ok, and no, we're just good friends; I don't think we would ever be a couple. There's attraction I'll admit, but we're too different ya know?” 

Daniel looked up at her “So were me and Jack” 

“Maybe, but you obviously made it work; what made you ask?” 

“Oh, just that Jack seemed a bit jealous when I told him you and Jonas were together in my reality”

“We didn't tell anyone, If they knew....they would think we were putting everyone else in danger. And Jack thought that If anyone found out, what with the DADT and all, that they would beat me up” Daniel lightly chuckled, somewhat half amused. 

“The Colonel wouldn't let that happen” 

“And there lies the problem” 

“Ah” Sam sat on the edge of the bed, placing her hand on his knee. “Engaged?”

“Yeh...actually talked about retirement, when we got married in England that is” 

“He was going to retire for you?” Sam was well over shocked. 

Daniel nodded, biting his bottom lip. “Me too” 

“I’m sorry Daniel...” 

“Not your fault....”

Sam sighed “I came to see If you wanted breakfast in the commissary?” 

“Not hungry...” 

“Ok...” she was about to get up to leave, but she felt like he needed someone to confide in, even If he didn't ask. “It....it helps to talk about the good times....” 

Daniel smiled “Maybe...” 

“I've got time to burn?” she asked with a smile of her own.

“Coffee?” 

she shook her head “I see that hasn't changed” Daniel laughed silently. “Black with double cream?” 

“Good guess”

“I’ll be right back” As Sam made her way down the corridor, Jack was walking toward her from the other way. “Hey, any word from the town?” she asked

“Not yet, where you off to?” 

“Getting Daniel coffee, seems like some things remain the same” she said with a laugh.

“Look, I didn't mean to sound so weirded out...I-” 

“I know, but go easy on him; he's really hurting right now, he's really not that much different then ours” 

“He carries a 9mm on random outings” 

Sam smiled “I wonder who told him to do that?” 

“Not me, well, at least technically it wasn't” 

Sam shook her head “Ok, so there are a few little details different, but really-he's so much the same too” 

Jack nodded a little. “Sooo...he ok?” 

“I think so, but I don't think he was planning on being a widower twice” she said. Jack came to realize that the Daniel who came through the gate had pretty much lived the life of their Daniel, except that at some point he and the other Jack decided to become a couple.

“I’m gonna keep him company for a while” she said 

Sam handed Daniel the steaming mug as she sat crossed legged on the bed with her own. “Thanks” he said 

“I can't know what you're going through....” 

“You've lost people too” Daniel said.

“In whose reality?”

“Both...I think, your mother was in a car accident when you were young, right?”

“Right...I remember that being so hard to live with...and it still gets me” Daniel nodded “Daniel, what you've been through, I admire how you stay so strong; friends, parents, people you were in love with...” 

“I’m not strong Sam...not any more, Jack was it....my last hope of connecting, of loving someone....I figured I wouldn't lose him, Because, well, it's Jack...but I was wrong, and on our own damn planet” 

“Don't think about that right now....tell me something good, tell me how you got together” Daniel blushed a little “Ok, not in detail,” Sam chuckled lightly

Daniel looked up from his mug “Doesn't it bother you?” 

Sam shook her head “No, Because If the Colonel found someone, I’m glad it was with someone he knew, who cared about him, it's nice to know it was someone like you” 

Daniel gave her a sad smile “Thank you....I forgot how good of a friend you are” she nodded

“Yeh, come on, tell me” 

“There really isn't much to tell, there was always something between us, some unspoken bond, at first we figured it was just a good friendship, an understanding. It wasn't until that incident with the Enkarans that the something between us slipped out” 

“Oh, that early?” 

“Jack was really mad at me that day, at first I thought he was just being an ass. But we spoke, or rather argued about it back at his cabin when we got back; he really was mad, I tried to ask him about it, but he just yelled some more and then- then he kissed me” Daniel chuckled “I think it was obvious after that”

“You didn't suspect anything prior”

“Like I said, we thought it was just a strong friendship, or at least I did. I can't deny that I didn't feel-something. But what with Jack and the whole military thing, I buried that feeling way deep; I couldn't go there” Daniel leaned back against the headboard. “I also noticed a twinge of jealously when I began to fall for Ker'a”

Sam nodded “The younger version of Linea?” 

Daniel nodded. “I didn't think much of it since I was still somewhat coping with Sha're's death”  
“He really just kissed you?” Sam asked, she was a little surprised

“Surprised? I was actually a little surprised myself, but Jack was different, it was Jack; I knew him better then anyone, it felt comfortable, I felt comfortable”

“I guess that since you've been friends for so long it was easy” Sam adjusted her comfort by twisting her legs round to curl beneath her. “So, what happened next?” she pried.

Daniel gave her an embarrassed look “I think you're smart enough to figure that out by yourself” he said playfully. 

“Well, yes. Did you feel different after? Was it like- skip to the love sort of thing?”

“Not quite, um, this is really uncomfortable” Daniel stammered over his words

“I'm a woman Daniel, I'm your friend, you know I've always wanted a gay best friend”

Daniel just looked blankly at her, and then he burst into laughter. He couldn't help himself. Sam smiled and then started laughing with him. 

After a minute or two their laughter died. “Wow, I haven't laughed like that in a long time”

“You're welcome” Sam smiled and leaned back on her hands. “So?”

“Ok, well, at first...for the first few weeks, given our follow up missions; the- the sex was more like, raw-angry sex” Sam's eyebrows raised “I know, not exactly what you'd expect from me”

“No, I guess not”

“It was only because of what we were going through, sometimes I'd be angry at him or he'd be pissed with me. We argued off world and sort of made up for it at home, kind of, now they're bruises I didn't mind getting” Daniel winced, maybe he'd gone a bit too far, a bit carried away, he dared a glance at Sam. “Too much?”

Sam shook her head with a smile “No”

“Once things had calmed down, Jack admitted he was too old for casual sex; he wanted things to be real between us”

Sam nodded, she could understand that; Unlike most of the people on this base, where their thoughts lay only in their pants, including the women. It was one of the reasons she respected SG1 like she did. Off-world romance not withstanding of course. “How did you cope with the team? How did your missions play out? Was it the same like nothing happened?” 

“Pretty much, I mean, we were pretty close anyway before we made any implication that we wanted something more” Daniel placed his empty cup on the night stand “We said that our relationship would never get in the way of our work, that whole- never leave a man behind motto made it a little easier” 

“How'd the first mission go with your relationship?” she asked, she felt like maybe she was prying too much, but Daniel was so relaxed, answering her questions; maybe it had been a while since Daniel opened up to someone since Jack died. 

“It was, hard. The day we decided to pursue a relationship; it was around the time we got addicted to that light on P4X-347”

“That was pretty scary. We almost lost you”

“I know, I was terrified, you can't imagine snapping out of a daze to find yourself standing above a high story apartment building. Just realizing you were about kill yourself was bad enough. If Jack hadn't have been there-”  
“He told us, I was scared for you”

“Jack was scared, when everything was over, I could tell he was- and in the moments of passion; I could tell that what we had going, was way more then just physical

“It's pretty clear he cared for you” Daniel shrugged

“I guess I saw the side of him that no one else would see; he sometimes said that I was a curse, Because not even Sara saw that side of him” Daniel replied with a smile “I took that as a compliment of course, we tried our best to remain professional, easy for him then me; sometimes I hated him when we were off world, the Colonel in him pissed me off more then it had before, I knew I shouldn't have expected any more special treatment just Because we were in a relationship; we agreed on that, but....” Sam watched Daniel as he trailed off, she guessed the memories of their times together, good and bad were weighing on him.

“You don't have to talk about this, I was just curious; and I thought that it might help you to confide in a friend” 

Daniel half smiled “You're his friend...not mine, the other Daniel” 

“Daniel, it's still you, I believe that, just Because you came from an alternate reality, doesn't mean I’m going to ignore you, you're still my friend” Daniel looked up at her, giving her a full smile.

“Thank you...that means a lot, when Jack died I shut down, didn't speak unless I had to, you tried to help me, you, Janet and Teal'c; even Hammond...but I just gave up. Of course, when Jack died, I- I think they finally figured it out” 

“They didn't treat you differently?”

“No, I would have been touched if it weren't for my state of mourning”

“You are Daniel, some differences I'll admit, but it's still you” 

“And you're still Sam, I felt bad hiding away; I wanted to talk to you so badly, especially after his death; maybe If I did, she might understand”

Sam nodded “Maybe you can tell them when you get back” Daniel looked away.

“I’m...I’m not going back Sam, I did this to see him again, I just didn't think about the changes...whether he thought of me that way or not, I just wanted to see him again...”

“I’m sure we can arrange for you to stay on this earth, they were willing to do it for the other Sam Carter and Kawalski” 

Daniel nodded “Are you sure you don't mind me talking about this? It doesn't freak you out?” 

“No, it was a little weird at first, but your connection is obvious” Sam laid a comforting hand on his knee. 

“It's been a while since I was able to open up, I was always a self independent person when it came to dealing with loss. Always shut out, dealt with it my own way, Jack's death hit me the hardest...” 

Sam smiled sadly at him “That a picture?” she asked, nodding at the small turned over squared paper on the bed. Daniel picked it up slowly, smiled a little and then handed it to her. She smiled brightly at it, and couldn't help but feel sorrow when she looked at them, so happy, so full of passion. She began to well up and then handed it back to him. “You looked so happy” 

“We were, then, Jack was much more relaxed when we went on vacation; sometimes it was hard to shut off his military attitude”

“Must have been hard for you” 

“Sometimes, since I was a civilian I was a little less afraid to express my anger” Daniel said with a shy smile.

Daniel closed his eyes, he opened them again to find Sam smiling at him. ″You're a great friend, you know that? I never thought it’d be so easy to tell someone-to tell you″ 

″Love is love Daniel, your connection with Jack is real; friendship or more″ Sam got up from the bed ″More coffee?″ she asked, picking up his empty cup. 

″Actually, um...do you think it’d be ok if I left the base? Fresh air?″ Daniel asked, swerving his legs over the bed. ″I just need-I just want to clear my head for a while″ 

″Geez Daniel, I don’t think that’s a good idea...″ Sam said hesitantly, Daniel looked at her as he stood up. 

″I won’t be long, you know I could just sneak out anyway; unless...I’m a prisoner?″

Sam looked horrified ″God no!″ Daniel grabbed his leather jacket, Sam noticed how much thinner he was to their Daniel. He turned back to her, his jacket twice his size. ″Ok, you should be able to leave the base, there’s no reason why you can’t; our Daniel is in Washington anyway, but-on one condition″

″What’s that?″ 

Sam shoved him lightly but playfully ″Eat something″ she smiled. Daniel nodded a little ″You're more thinner then I ever remember you being″ Daniel chuckled ″It’s just concern, that’s all, I can’t force you″ 

″It’s funny, you said that to me before″ 

Sam nodded ″I can imagine, look at you, this jacket is drowning you″ Sam joked.

Daniel smiled down sadly at it. ″It’s Jack’s″ 

“I know how hard it must be for you; I know you miss him″ Sam held his arm comfortingly.

″Yeh....I do″ Daniel nodded and turned the handle of the door. 

″Daniel-″ 

″Don’t worry, I’ll be fine″ 

Sam smiled ″I know you will″ 

Daniel smiled and left the room, Sam sighed, while it was weird to think about Jack and Daniel in a intimate relationship; it was clear they had been happy. She shook her head, with a little grin at how uncomfortable it had made their Jack. But if he only saw how good they looked together, just from that one picture. She snorted, she shouldn’t tease him, it wasn’t a joking matter, Daniel was clearly mourning, and she knew better then to tease Jack about his uneasiness on the subject anyway. She couldn't help but wonder though, maybe there was something between their Daniel and Jack? After listening to Daniel, it was possible, looking back on things.

Daniel had walked for half hour after catching the bus into Denver. It was around five in the evening, and the winter cold air was crisp, Daniel wrapped his jacket tighter around himself as he stepped off the bus. He sighed as he began to walk down the sidewalk, passing a row of shops. He placed his hands in his leather pockets, each shop window had Christmas lights up and tinsel decorated the edges. Daniel cursed them as he passed by, a month away and they were already putting up lights. He turned his head to spot the charity folks scattered about, they were always there around this time of year. Daniel sighed again, Jack loved this time of year, it was him who had gotten Daniel back into the spirit of Christmas. Jack had a hell of a time doing so before, but when they got together; their first Christmas was-well magical. 

Daniel bit his bottom lip, he shivered as the air grew colder. Wrapping his arms around himself more, he continued to walk down the pavement. He glanced up into the darkening sky when something cold touched his nose. A few small white flakes touched his face before melting quickly, it began to snow. Daniel smiled sadly and sat on a bench, despite the fact it was freezing. He placed his head in his hands ″God Jack....I’m such a mess, What the hell would you be thinking if you knew where I was right now...″ 

He decided to move from the bench before his ass stuck to it, moving passed a few more shops he walked into a late night cafe shop. He walked to the counter, trying his best to smile kindly at the waitress behind it when she greeted him with a smile of her own. ″Just started snowing?″ she asked him in her country accent as he sat down on a stall. She was dressed in a red and white pinny, black apron around her waist.

″Yeh...a little″ 

″Ah well, only expected, Christmas is upon us I suppose″ 

Daniel nodded, Jack had made Christmas special again; they both did, for one another. But now that Jack was gone, Daniel couldn’t bare to face it again; he hated it. 

″What’ll ya have handsome?″

Daniel’s lips curled along with his toes, handsome, been a while since he’d been called that. ″Just a coffee, thanks″ he knew the woman must have felt shunned when he didn’t acknowledge her compliment. 

″Nah, you look like you could use some cheering up; why don’t ya have one of our special Christmas hot chocolates? Made with hot milk, a touch of cinnamon, whipped cream with a fancy flake″ Hadn’t fazed her any, though, Daniel had to give her credit for trying.

″I just-want-a-coffee″ Daniel tried to keep the irritation out of his voice

″Come on, how about on the house?″

Daniel sighed, he gave her a small smile, ″All right, since you insisted″ 

The woman nodded, shouted the order behind her to the back of the kitchen, then returned her attention back to Daniel. ″Rough day?″

Daniel snorted. ″Rough year is more like it″

″Christmas is hard for some people, I would know, lost my husband two years ago″

Daniel closed his eyes for a second, he didn’t want to deal with emotional trauma from others, he could barely deal with his own. ″Sorry...″ he mumbled.

″You learn to live with it, though you never forget, especially this time of year″ 

She handed Daniel his hot chocolate, Daniel nodded a thank you and she left him to it to clean the tables. Daniel plucked out the flake, scooping up some cream with it and popped it in his mouth. He had to admit, it was a good hot chocolate.

He pulled out the picture of him and Jack again, somehow, he just couldn’t stop staring at it. Like he wanted to crawl inside it, just relive it, even if it was just that one moment, over and over, he wouldn’t give a damn. ″He’s cute″ came the woman’s voice when she stood beside him, leaning on the counter. 

Daniel jumped a little at the intrusion, sliding the picture back in his pocket. ″Yeh..″

The woman could tell what Daniel was going through, he had that grieving vibe about him. ″You seemed happy together″ Daniel nodded, taking sips of his drink. He was so not in the mood to talk about this, especially with a stranger. ″Name’s Lilian″ 

″Daniel″ 

″Well, Daniel, you know that he lives on as long as you remember, as long as you hold on to him. His life, his smile, his laugh, his embrace; those will always remain strong if you let them. And, if you believe it, at Christmas, the memory burns ever stronger since their spirit brightens″

Daniel looked up at her, his eyes filled with admiration. ″You believe that?″

″I sure do″

″Your husband-″

″Is always with me,″ she touched her left side ″in here, in my heart, just like-″

″Jack″

″Just like Jack is always in yours, Daniel″

Daniel cast his eyes down, he finished the last of the hot chocolate. ″You're right....″ He looked back up at the woman ″Thank you...″ 

″Not a problem, take care now Daniel″

″You too...″ Daniel then left the café, it was still snowing, slowly but continuously. He looked up into the now darkened sky. “Jack...” Daniel shivered again, feeling a little run down. It was defiantly getting colder now, the snow picked up again as he carried on walking. He tightened his jacket and folded his arms around himself. It was probably best if he went back to the base, he looked at his watch; 20:30, good, he could still catch a bus back. He sighed and walked back on the trail he had come from. His mind was on overdrive, he thought back on everything he and Jack had been through, he just couldn't shake his emotions. 

Daniel sat at the nearest bus shelter, at least it was sheltered enough that he wasn't standing fully in the falling snow. This was too hard, it was worse being stuck in his own time line with Jack gone, but even worse being here, with Jack alive and he couldn't have him. Now he knew how the Sam in the other reality felt. Daniel sighed as he leaned his head against the cold shelter, tears threatening to fall again. He was suddenly reliving a memory he had chosen not to think about until now. When he'd given up his life to save the people on Kelowna. It was a stupid act, but a heroic one at the time. Now. Now he wondered just how the hell he could have left Jack. Daniel knew how he felt, knew how hard it must have been for Jack.

Daniel looked up through the falling snow, squinting as he spotted a bus coming up the road. He stood up and held his hand out, the bus stopped and he shook off the snow from his jacket. He paid the necessary bus fare and walked right to the back of the bus. He sat and leaned his head against the window, watching the snow continue to cover everything. 

…...........................

Janet looked up from her notes as Jack and Sam walked in “Is Daniel still out?” she asked Sam. 

“I think so” Jack looked at Sam with a surprised expression “Don't worry, he said he'd be as hidden as possible, he just wanted some time to himself; he should be back soon since he's been gone a few hours now”

“Well, he better get back soon....” Janet said, they couldn't help but notice the worry in her voice.  
“Janet?” Sam asked with concern

“I have some results here from the tests I took, remember when the other Sam started to feel badly effected from being in the same reality as our Sam?”

They nod, Sam said “Her body started to deteriorate- are you saying that this is happening to Daniel?”

Jack looked at Sam and then the doctor “Not yet, but it will do; I don't think it will happen quite like it did with Sam but, it will happen, the two Daniel's aren't in the Same area so it'll probably take a little more time....Daniel will start to feel weak, eventually to the point-”

“Doc” Jack interrupted her ramble

“He'll fade away sir, his body will grow weaker by the hour and-he'll-just, fade”

The two stood in shock for a moment “Oh my god” Sam said as she looked at Jack, his expression showing concern for the other Daniel for the first since he came through the Stargate. 

“Get him back here” Jack said.

Sam nodded and said “I have his number, I'll call and ask where he is”

Daniel jumped a little out of his thoughts when he heard his phone ring. He sighed when he saw AR Sam pop up. “Hey Sam...look, I know I've been out a while, I'm on my way back now”

“That's ok,...Daniel, how'd you feel?” 

“Ok...I guess, just have a lot on my mind, with Jack and all-”

“Right, understandable” she got to the point when Jack glared at her “Um, Daniel, how'd you feel physically?”

“Uh, ok...why?”

“It's best we explain it when you get back-”

“It's happening isn't it? Or it will happen, like with the other Sam...”

“I'm afraid so, your body will deteriorate and you'll start to feel weak; Janet said it could happen by the hour....we're not sure, but she thinks that because you and our Daniel are in different area's that you'll just-fade away...”

“Yeh...”

“I'm sorry Daniel, but if we don't get you back to your time-”

“No Sam, it's not your fault, I knew this might happen, was inevitable”

“You knew?”

“Sure....I stepped through the mirror and came here because I wanted to see Jack one last time, I forgot about the important facts, forgot this might not play out the way I wanted it to. But I knew that if it didn't, I would just remain here until-”

“Daniel you can't be serious- we need to get you back to your time line Asap”

“I can't go back there Sam..., it's too much, I can't live without him there. At least here, I can fade knowing I had a chance to see him again; I'm ok with that...”

“Daniel this isn't the time for-” Sam's voice was cut off

“Daniel! Get your ass back here right now!” Jack's voice bellowed down the phone, Daniel couldn't help but smile.

“I'm sorry Jack, I hadn't meant for you to be uncomfortable; personally I didn't care, I was just glad to see you...”

“Get back here Daniel, this isn't a way to go-”

“Maybe not, but it's a hell of a lot less painful then all the other times, our memories help....”

“Don't be ridiculous-”

“Bye Jack...” 

“Daniel!-” Jack looked at the phone “He hung up”

“Where's he going?” Sam asked with panic

“Didn't say...”

“We've gotta find him, he shouldn't have to face this alone- I know this isn't our Daniel, but sir-”

“I know, and it's not just that, if he starts to fade away in a public place, that's going to get a lot of attention” Sam nodded. “Stay here encase he shows up, I'll get Teal'c out looking for him in all the places Daniel might go”

“What about you sir?”

“I'll look around, see if I can spot him anywhere outside” Jack hesitated, he hadn't felt at all guilty up until now; but now that he knew Daniel had planned to die here....like this, just to see him again, what had he done? Avoided him and never once hesitated to show how uncomfortable he was. But it wasn't too late yet, he could still be there for him in his last moments; he'd have done it for their Daniel, and this one wasn't any different. Daniel needed them and he was going to make sure the man wasn't alone for this. "Don't worry, he won't face this alone" Jack said “I'll bring him back"

Daniel stopped the bus suddenly, he smiled at driver and got off. He decided to phone for a cab; he suddenly knew where he wanted to be....where he needed to be for the end. 

Jack drove slowly down one of the streets near Denver; hoping to catch Daniel around there. He didn't suspect he would have gone this far, but he'd have to think outside the box. They had to look everywhere, time was running out; He needed to find him soon.

Daniel sighed when the warmth hit him as he got into the cab. He breathed deeply and suddenly felt a little dizzy; thank god he was sitting down. "Where to sir?" 

"Um....Colorado, um...Colorado springs, if that's ok” 

“Sure, but uh- gonna cost you a bit, here to Colorado springs is at least an hour”

“I have the money, please, just get me there” Daniel shivered, Jesus, he hadn't felt this bad a few minutes ago.

“All right, but you're not gonna pass out or throw up in my car are ya? Cause I gotta tell you, you don't look so good”

“I'm fine really, just tired, that's all” he lied, well, of course he lied; he couldn't very well tell the man he was from another reality and he just so happened to be fading away because there was two of him, could he? “Actually...would you mind if I took a nap? Wake me when we get there?” Daniel asked, Jack would scold him for that; but at the moment he was too tired to care whether he got attacked or not. 

“Sure, no problem, as long as you're not sick; I'm cool with that” 

“Thanks...” Daniel shifted and wrapped his arms around himself, he laid his head on the window, looking out to see the snow had calmed slightly. “Jack....maybe I'll see you soon” Daniel closed his eyes, sleep might help his weary body, He smiled as he drifted off. 

“Sir?” Daniel jerked awake when he heard someone call out to him. “We're just about in Colorado springs”

“Oh...thanks, um, yeh...just drive up a little there....that's fine, I can walk from here”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeh, yeh, it's fine, here-” Daniel handed the driver the money and smiled as he got out of the car. The air was crisp and cold, he could see his breath as he spoke. “T-thank you” 

“You sure you'll be all right sir?”

“Fine, thanks....” Daniel couldn't help his teeth chattering as he shut the door and watched the cab drive off. He walked up the hill side and made a right turn, sighing when his destination came into view. He walked through the frosted grass and made his way through the snow that had covered the rest of the area. He whimpered a little as he sat down and hugged himself tightly, trying to stay warm. He smiled sadly as he leaned back against the door, he'd made it. Drawing his knees up to his chest for more warmth he felt content to spend the rest of his moments here; just playing over the memories. He pulled out the little picture he had, smiling at it; he then looked out over the now frozen lake. Yes, this is where he wanted to be for the end.

Holding his phone in his left hand as he got out of the truck, Jack shut the door and locked it. “Has he signed back in at the SGC? Has he even called- yeh, I'm just grabbing something from the cabin and-” Jack stopped a few feet away from the door “I'll um...I'll get back to you” Jack shut the front of his cell and shoved it back in his pocket. “Daniel!” Jack called as he ran the rest of the way up and knelt down beside the bundle on the ground. “What the hell are you doing here!?”

Daniel turned toward the voice, he shivered a little and then smiled weakly. “Hey J-Jack...”

“Are you nuts? How long have you been sat there!?”

“Don't know, couple of hours?”

“What the hell for? Carter, Teal'c and I have been searching everywhere for you”

“T-Told S-Sam...wanted to stay”

“Daniel, I know what's happening to you; but is this really necessary? There are more comfortable ways to go you know!”

“You'd think...but I would know” 

“There's no real reason for you to go at all, let me take you back to the SGC, we have to get you back to that mirror”

“No...Jack, I can't...I don't want to go back, there's nothing for me there any more”

“You're going! Don't be ridiculous, I think the friends you have there are going to be royally pissed with you for ditching them, besides, I promised our Carter I'd get you back” Jack grabbed Daniel's arm

“Jack!” Jack stopped, he looked into Daniel's eyes, so full of sorrow, his expression bleak, one that hand truly given up. “Please...Jack, I just- I just want it to end, I want it to be over....I can't do it any more, I'm tired...and I'm sorry for the intrusion, but- this is where I need to be. I want to be here for the end Jack, I'd always felt safe here, please...” Jack shook his head, he'd never seen Daniel look so tired, so broken, it was like the light and soul had just vanished from him.

“Ok Daniel....ok, come on, at least spend it in the warmth hm?” Jack held his hand out. Daniel smiled wearily and took the offered hand, Jack nearly let go when he felt how cold Daniel's hand was. “Christ you're like an ice cube, you idiot...” Jack unlocked the door and supported Daniel through to the living room, he stood Daniel next to the fireplace, lit it and said “Stay there by the fire, don't move; why don't you try and get the feeling back in your limbs” he reminded Daniel of his Jack; they really were both very protective. Jack walked away and shut the front door, he moved into the kitchen and started to make hot chocolate; muttering things about stupid pain in the ass archaeologists. 

Daniel sighed as he slumped in front of the fireplace, the heat from it felt wonderful as he rubbed his hands together. Jack was right, this would be a more relaxing and more comfortable place to go. Daniel didn't care, he was just glad to be here; at the very place he remembered the most precious memories of the times he and Jack had shared. It seemed a lifetime ago when they were stood in this very spot the day he came back from Abydos. They were both so young then....

“Here...” Jack said as he handed Daniel a steaming mug.

“Thanks...um, I really am sorry”

“Don't be, I um-maybe I was being a little, I was probably-”

“Being an ass?” Daniel suggested

Jack smiled a little “Ok, yeh...I didn't mean to be, It's just a little- weird”

“Well, nothing about our lives is ever normal”

“True, but you and I-”

“It's ok Jack”

“I guess it is a little-obvious that we- you, were um-”

“In love?”

Jack pulled a face, then smiled “You know, I'm gonna ask you the same thing I asked the other Carter before; how could you fall for such a loser? Honestly Daniel, I really thought you'd do a little better” Daniel laughed “What? I'm serious, what's wrong with you people?” Daniel still continued to laugh and then smiled sadly at the floor. “You warmer now?”

“A little bit, hot chocolate helps...”

“Would do....well, I'm gonna sit on the couch because- you know, not as young as I used to be”

Daniel rolled his eyes “Jack, you're almost fifty, not seventy”

Jack stood up with a wince “Yeh well, when you got a knee that plays up during the cold, it certainly feels that way” Daniel stood up following suit, they both sat on the opposite ends of the couch, keeping their hands warm on the hot mugs.

Jack's phone rang, which startled them both “Hello?”

“Sir? Any luck finding Daniel?” Sam spoke

Daniel looked up when he heard his name being mentioned. “Yeah, he's at the cabin...don't worry, he's....he's staying here, he wants to be here-” Daniel smiled gratefully at him.

“Are you sure, cause we can-”

“It's ok, this is where he wants to be”

“Ok...send him my thoughts and love”

“Will do...” Jack hung up the phone “Carter sends her love..” Daniel smiled and sipped his drink “Sooo....what happened?”

Daniel looked at him “With what?”

“Back at the store Daniel”

Daniel frowned “I already told you that”

“Tell me again”

“I- I really don't want to talk about it, please”

Jack sighed a little, but nodded “Ok, tell me something else then”

“Like what?” 

“Like how the hell you and I could be together without killing each other” Daniel chuckled a little. 

“All this time you've been uncomfortable and you're asking me about our relationship?”

“S-sure, why not”

“Well, it wasn't easy, not all the time anyway; but-there were a lot of good memories that made up for it”

“And we managed to keep it a secret, all that time?”

“Yeh, that wasn't easy either; but we managed- and more then made up for it when we were alone”

“Ok, a detail you could have left out there...”

“Sorry”

“So what else? Did I cook?”

“If by cook you mean crisp burnt steaks on the grill or take outs then yeh, I guess”

“Whoops, did you cook”

“Sometimes, we did eat out a lot”

“I imagined it took some convincing to drag you away from work”

“Not that much really, since we barely had time alone, we grabbed the chance when we could; I still managed to work mostly from home”

“That doesn't surprise me” Jack leaned back a little, he could see Daniel was deep In thought then. “You ok?”

“Hm? Sorry, it's um- hard to let go of those memories”

“I think that's the idea, You're not suppose to let go”

“Maybe...”

Jack sat up a little, he was going to try to at least cheer him up a bit. Jack felt a little more relaxed now, It seemed this Daniel wasn't all that different; he was entitled to his feelings, he supposed. And now that Daniel was sat opposite him, he could truly see the grief he was going through. 

“When did we -get together?”

“The Enkarans”

“Ah, that time”

“Yeh”

“So, we were together when you-” Jack twirled his hand up in the air

“Yep”

“I imagine I was quite pissed”

“Oh, you were; at least when I came back anyway....” Daniel grew serious, “I never understood, why you were mad at me...for leaving you, but I realize now. I broke down when you died, I missed you so much...I couldn't live with it, I didn't want to continue my life knowing you wouldn't be in it- I made the decision to find another reality”

“Daniel...”

“It's ok Jack...”

“No it's not, I know loss is hard- but, you're throwing your life away for- if I was the other Jack-um” Daniel couldn't help but grin a little at Jack's confusion. “But you know what I mean, If I was him, I sure as hell wouldn't want you doing this!”

“Jack, it was because of you I even joined the SGC, I lost my wife, the only person I ever truly loved.....and-then I took another chance to be happy, to love someone and to be loved in return; because it was you; I didn't think anything could tear us apart. Because every time it did, we'd always find our back....when I lost you, I just couldn't take it any more” Jack listened to Daniel in silence as he watched the unshed tears form in the other man's eyes. “I'm tired Jack”

Jack smiled sadly at him, placing a comforting hand on Daniel's knee. “I know the feeling...” Daniel nodded wearily, thinking about Jack's suicide mission to Abydos.

“Yeah...”

“Um, so more hot chocolate?”

“Sure, why not” Jack pat his knee and got up from the sofa. Daniel looked out of the window, He leaned his head back with a sigh, if there was a last place on earth he'd like to be; it was defiantly here, he knew he'd made the right decision. 

“Hey, you ok?” Daniel opened his eyes and smiled when Jack came back with two new mugfuls

“Yeah, I was just thinking” Jack nodded and handed Daniel another cup “Thanks”

Jack sat back down in his seat “So, five years huh?”

Daniel chuckled “Really that hard to believe?”

“How the hell did you put up with me for that long?” Jack then grinned “Heck, how the hell did I put up with you for that long?”

“Oh I don't know, I think this shows we did pretty well...” Daniel lifted his hand lightly to signify his ring on his left finger. “...Proposed to me on an off-world planet in the middle of an ancient ruined city; sunset and everything....”

“I- really? Me?”

“Hey I was just as surprised; given the fact we were off-world at the time and clearly in danger of being found out-”

“Daniel-”

“What?”

“That's what surprised you?”

“Well, yeh; we had strict rules of no off-world intimate physical contact”

“And you weren't the least bit surprised that I actually proposed to you?”

“Oh, that too”

Jack shook his head, he then saw Daniel's eyes grow distant again “So -” Jack began, trying to come up with anything that would keep Daniel from feeling the loss. “How'd I do it? Get down on one knee and everything?”

“Hm? Oh, actually; you engraved it in an obelisk, told me that there was some writing that was in English. I bounded over and read it, it didn't sink in because I was too busy yelling at you for writing graffiti on the ancient ruins” Jack grinned “It was only after you grabbed my arms and told me to shut up and read it again that I- I couldn't believe it”

“Bet that was hard keeping it to yourself”

“You don't know how much, we could only wear our rings when we were alone so-there wasn't a lot of time to talk about it. But, before we set out to Washington; you told me that when we got back; we were going hand in our resignation and retire together...”

“I was going to retire?” Daniel nodded “And you were?” Jack seemed more surprised that Daniel was going to give the SGC. 

“It was getting too much, we just wanted to be together...all the off-world travelling was starting to catch up with you; you said you didn't want things to become any more dangerous for us....you were worried that I might-so when you told me you were going to retire, I- I realized that I didn't want to put myself in the line of fire any more then you wanted me too. I think I surprised you quite a lot when I told you”

“I'll say...” Jack looked down at his now empty mug again. “Daniel....what happened?” Jack looked up and into Daniel's eyes “At the store, please tell me”

“Why?”

“I just- I wasn't very supportive before...I want to know”

Daniel frowned down at his empty cup, biting his lower lip. He shifted a little on the sofa and took a deep breath. “Ok”

#Jack drove down the road, leading up to pueblo, it was Once a major trade stop for Native American tribes, Spanish troops, mountain men and gold seekers, Pueblo's history was on display at places such as the El Pueblo Museum and the South east Colorado Heritage Museum. Fun seekers could walk, bike or boat the Historic Arkansas River walk or spend a day boating and swimming at Pueblo Reservoir. Daniel marveled at the history vibe he got from looking out the window, he then turned to Jack. 

“Jack can-”

“No”

“But you don't even know-”

“You want to spend the day roaming around jotting down pointless notes on this towns history, you want to take pictures and ask the nice folks about the past culture that used to thrall through here....that about right?”

Daniel almost pouted and then tried not to grin “No...”

Jack snorted “I know you Daniel, you can't fool me; your eyes do that light up thing every time”

“They do?” Daniel said, still slightly grinning, he knew that was probably true; but he loved how Jack just knew.

“We're not on vacation, remember?”

“But you just happen to miss our only flight so that we had to drive all the way back to Colorado from Washington”

“Hey, they bought the story, we practically get to spend the whole day together; quit complaining”

Jack slowed down as he came up to a gas station

“All right, I guess there'll be plenty of time to come back and relish in the history another time” Daniel smiled as they pulled to a stop outside the gas pumps. “Want me to drive the rest of the way back?”

“Nah, we're only about an hour away from the cabin; give or take a bit from any traffic”

“But you look beat”

“Daniel, relax; you've already done your part. Besides you look just as tired, I'm surprised you're still awake after all that democratic stuff you had to inflict on the president and that bastard Kinsey sitting there with his stupid smug face”

“That, or it could be the someone that kept me up almost half the night because he was- restless” 

“I didn't hear you complaining about that either”

Daniel rolled his eyes and followed Jack out of the truck, Jack looked up with questioning eyes “I can at least pay for the gas” Daniel said as he fished out his wallet from his back pocket, he discreetly adjusted the 9mm from just inside the waistband of his black pants. Jack shrugged and decided not to argue, he smiled back at Daniel and watched him go inside to pay. He shook his head and started to fill the car.

Jack looked up to see Daniel coming back with two large cups of coffee. Daniel stood in front of him and Jack was about to reach for one and Daniel pulled it away. Then, remembering what Sarah had once said “A little human contact first..” Jack looked around and then leaned in to kiss Daniel; who then pulled back. 

“You know, personally I don't mind either one; but if you're gonna deny me of both then that's mean”

“Jack- there's no one around, no one knows us here”

“What? I know that”

“I saw you check”

Jack sighed, “Sorry, habits ya know? But Daniel- I'm serious about what we talked about”

“Are you?”

“I've never been more serious, you know me, I don't say things lightly; I want us to spend the rest of forever as us, I don't wanna hide any more...I love you Daniel” Jack grabbed one of the coffee's from Daniel and placed it on the front of the truck. He lifted the hand and then said “Isn't that the reason for the ring that's meant to be on this finger?”

“I know Jack, I really believe it; but it's getting so damn hard to pretend...if something happens and-”

“Hey, we'll be fine, a few months Daniel; just a few months ok...” Jack stroked his thumb over Daniel's cheek. 

Daniel nodded and then smiled, “You make it so difficult to stay mad at you” Jack hunched his shoulders and Daniel leaned in and placed a light kiss on Jack's lips. “I hate you for that”

“Hey, it's a gift, took years of perfection” 

Daniel kissed him again, making it last a little longer this time. “Shut up”

Jack bit the bottom of Daniel's lip before pulling away and taking the coffee that was sitting on the truck. “I'll tell you what, why don't we nip in that store over the road, pick up some things for dinner and I'll even cook”

“Sounds nice, and if you play your cards right; I might provide the dessert” Daniel said with a grin.

Jack tensed with a look of lust, then said “Whatever happened to that innocent archaeologist I fell in love with?”

Daniel turned away and opened the door to the passengers side “You took him under your wing and made him better” he winked and then slid inside the truck. Jack shook his head and then proceeded to get into the other side. 

Jack parked the truck near the store and shut off the engine. They got out and reached the front, Jack grabbed a basket just before they walked inside. “So, what's on the menu? What do ya fancy?”

“Mmm, I don't know; pasta?”

“Pasta? Really? Kind of bland don't ya think? I'm offering to cook for you and you choose pasta?”

“We could get a sauce-”

“Oh a sauce, well then that makes all the difference”

Daniel hit Jack playfully on the arm “Don't be an ass”

“Ok ok, pasta it is”

They made quick work of the isles, grabbing the necessary ingredients and a couple of beers along the way to the check out. There was a couple of long lines so they stood at the end of one with their basket. “Late night shoppers” Jack muttered, Daniel shrugged and smiled at his impatient lover. 

“Can taste the dinner already”

“Daniel...I'm already hungry, don't make it worse”

Daniel chuckled

They suddenly turned their attention at the gasps of the people waiting in line. “Maybe I didn't make myself clear- I grow tired of hiding, you will proceed to bow before me”

Daniel's eyes widen and he looked at Jack “Jack-that sounded like a Goa'uld” 

“Shhh, I know, lets stay calm for a moment” they both moved slowly out of the line and got a better glimpse of the person with the strange voice. He had dark hair and a long leather Jacket over a black shirt and jeans. “Holy crap” Jack whispered as they watched the man's eyes glow. 

“Jack-”

“Yeh I know”

“What do we do?”

“I'm thinking”

“Bow before your god” he turned and grabbed the screaming woman beside him which made her scream even more. Daniel moved forward before Jack could stop him. 

“Daniel!” Jack shouted in a whisper. 

Daniel froze when the Goa'uld turned his attention to him, he yanked the woman forward and then pushed her roughly into the terrified crowd. He advanced on Daniel, who was trying desperately to grab his 9mm from the back of his jeans. Before he could however, he was flung backwards by a familiar hand device and landed into a pile of empty shopping baskets. Daniel winced and moved to stare up at the Goa'uld, Jack didn't know what way was best; there were a lot of people here to just open up and fire. But if he didn't do something soon, he was going to lose him. Daniel's eyes widen when the man a few feet away from him clicked the safety off his own gun. Daniel tried to reach behind him, but his heart was pounding a mile a minute. With his hands shaking there was no guarantee he wouldn't shoot anyone else. Too late, Jack had to act now; Daniel tensed and clenched his eyes shut. Everyone more or less screamed when a gun shot was heard. Daniel opened his eyes with a frown, he hadn't felt anything; he slowly stared up and he gasped when he saw someone standing in front of him. His mind instantly registered who it was and he jumped up to catch him. “Jack!!” Daniel fell back to the floor with him, trying his best to put pressure on the bullet would on his chest. Daniel's eyes glared up dangerously, despite his glistening eyes. He moved so fast as he put Jack on the floor and grabbed his gun “Bastard!!” he shot the Goa'uld with every bullet there was, unloading his clip straight into him without missing once. The alien stilled as Daniel kept firing until his clip was empty, even then he kept pulling the trigger. He then threw the empty gun as the Goa'uld fell forward, his eyes glowed one last time and then he lay lifeless, his eyes closing. Daniel was trembling, he'd never felt so angry and so violent. 

“Dan-iel.....”

A small voice brought him back after a moment and he fell to his knees beside Jack. He cradled him, gathering him up in his arms, quickly trying to put pressure on the wound again “Damn it....Jack” he tightened his hold on the limp man and looked up to the crowd. “Call an ambulance!!” 

“Already on it” someone said from the cashier register. 

Daniel looked down at Jack, tears threatening to fall. “Jack...please hang on, don't you dare leave me”

“Sorry...Danny...”

“No! Don't you dare! Jack! Jack! You have to hang on, please...please don't do this to me!”

Jack raised his hand up to Daniel's face “Don't ever....give up...Daniel”

“Jack! I can't- you can't leave me”

“These last few....years...have been amazing....I wish we could have-” 

“We can still do that! The ambulance is on it's way, you'll be ok...” the crowd watched with heartbreaking sympathy at the two on the floor. “Please Jack!”

Jack smiled weakly, his hand dropping before Daniel caught it; he managed to squeeze it. “I love you....Daniel” tears streamed from Daniel's face as he yelled for Jack to wake up, he could hear the ambulance outside. 

“Jack...please...” Daniel pulled Jack closer to him, burying his face in his chest. Daniel desperately kissed his head and mouth, as if that would wake him. Daniel clutched him tightly as more tears fell and he realized there was nothing he could do any more. “I love you Jack....I love you” 

Daniel was unaware of when the ambulance had come into the building, he stood back at some point to let them get to Jack. He couldn't even find his voice to them he was already gone. He began to feel dizzy, then his breathing quickened and he rushed outside and grabbed hold of the post and threw up. He slumped against the post and fell back against the door. Everything else was a blur, the police had arrived and tried to ask him some questions but he could barely hear them. #

Daniel held his head in his hands

“There wasn't anything you could have done” Jack said quietly

“I could have- I could have fired, I could have stayed where I was and not tried to interfere....”

“You saved a woman's life, I would have done the same thing...”

“But you- it's my fault, he's dead because of my idiocy”

“No Daniel, put yourself in his shoes for a second; if it had been the other way around, if the gun had been pointed at me on the floor...would you have stepped in the way?”

“Of course I would!” Daniel replied without hesitation, he then frowned “It's not the same-”

“Yes it is, he took that bullet because he couldn't bare to lose you; trust me on that one” Daniel looked up at him, something about that sentence confused him

“What do you mean?” 

“Just like you would have taken the bullet because you couldn't bare to lose him...”

“Except...I did lose him”

“And he was happy knowing you were still alive” Daniel tried his hardest not to cry, he was shaking and clutching his arms around himself. “There's no shame in crying, I won't think any less of you” Daniel shook his head, trying to clear his vision. Jack shifted up onto his knees and scooted over to him; he held his arms out and pulled Daniel close even if the man didn't want to. Daniel was tense and refused to acknowledge the comfort, but after a couple of minutes Daniel clutched Jack's arms and Jack could hear him sob. He knew this must have been a long time coming, it didn't appear that Daniel had allowed himself the time to grieve properly since the whole incident happened. Jack didn't feel awkward, didn't feel annoyed, he just held Daniel tighter and let the man grieve. 

When it seemed Daniel was calmer he pulled away and Daniel wouldn't look at him. He rubbed his arm and said “You ok?” Daniel nodded and sat back against the arm of the couch. 

“I'm sorry....”

“No need to apologize, there's no shame in grieving”

“Jack told me not to give up...but I can't do it..I'm not as strong as he is”

“You're a lot stronger then you think you are Daniel, you have to believe that”

“I used to...”

“You still are, you've made it this far-”

“Jack...I wouldn't be here if I hadn't given up, I just wanted-”

“I know...”

“We spoke about our wedding after retiring...” Daniel began, Jack could see him getting tired, he could hear it in his voice. “It was going to be small, and you told me that only then would we dance together...”

“I was never the dancing type...” Jack winced a little “I think you may have turned me into a sap in your reality” he joked.

Daniel chuckled lightly, “Not really...you were the same right until the end- you were a proud man, but, you let me see a side to you reserved only for me...” Daniel wiped his eyes on his sleeve “To dance our very first dance.....but- that can't happen now”

Jack nodded, and looked away from him; he was having a hard time seeing Daniel like this. Even though the same, their Daniel and this one were different; Daniel hadn't deserved to have his loved one taken from him twice...Jack sighed, he couldn't take away the pain in Daniel's heart, but he could do his damn hardest to make sure his last moments were happy ones. He looked up to see Daniel had closed his eyes “Hey...still with me?”

Daniel's eyes opened with a jolt “Sorry....it's getting harder to stay awake”

Jack stood up and walked over to the stereo system, Jack searched through his many tracks. He smiled when he found one and popped it in. He knew it was way out of character for him, but Daniel needed this “Don't go dying on me yet...there's something you need to do first” Jack pressed the play button and stood up when a song began play. 

He walked back around to the couch where Daniel was sitting, Daniel stared up at him with wide questioning eyes. The song of- what was it called? Unchained melody? Yes, that's what was playing. Jack held his hand out for Daniel to take “Dance with me” 

“Jack?” Daniel stared at his hand. 

“Dance with me Daniel”

Daniel's eyes moistened and he took the offered hand “Ok...” Jack pulled him gently to his feet, he swallowed his discomfort and wrapped a hand lightly around Daniel's waist and reached to hold Daniel's hand with the other. Daniel's other hand came up and shakily clutched the back of his shirt. 

“Relax...it's ok” 

Daniel nodded and rested his head on Jack's shoulder as Jack swayed them. “I know...this doesn't mean anything, but- can I pretend?”

“Sure...” They continued to sway back and forth, side to side against the sound of the music. Daniel clutched his shirt tighter when his emotions overwhelming. “It's ok....”

The song ended and Jack pulled back slightly, Daniel smiled a little at him; his eyes clouded. “Thank you...that meant so much...” Jack then caught him as collapsed.  
“Daniel? Are you ok?”

“Yeh...fine...just- feel a little weak...” Jack nodded and guided him back to the sofa, Daniel smiled wearily as Jack looked at him with concern. “Maybe I should...just...sit here for a bit...”

“Daniel?”

“S'kay Jack...we knew it was going to happen eventually...”

“Are you hurting?”

Daniel shook his head “No...no pain”

Jack sighed, he then looked out of the window; it was getting light outside. He glanced at his watch and figured the sun was going to rise in a few minutes. Jack turned to him and lightly grabbed his hand. “Think you can make it to the docks there?”

Daniel looked over, it seemed so far away and he was so tired...”Maybe...”

“Come on” Jack helped Daniel to stand, he could feel how weak the man was, he had to basically hold him up. “You ok?”

“Yeah...just- yeah...” Jack guided them to the doors and managed to open them, he grabbed a throw blanket on the way passed and led them down to the lake. They had to stop a few times for Daniel to catch his breath. Jack slowly guided Daniel to the floor and wrapped him in the blanket. It wasn't as cold as the night before but Jack saw the man shivering, he knew it wasn't the best place to be; but it seemed the only thing left he could do for him. “What- are- we doing- out here-J-Jack...” 

“Over there, sun will be rising any minute now...” Jack told him as he sat down beside him.

Daniel craned his head up, he could just about see little rays forming below the tree line. Daniel could feel his body growing weaker, he bit his lip and tried to remain calm. “I-I'm scared Jack...”

Jack closed his eyes for a moment, he wrapped his arm around him, pulling him closer. “Shhh...it's ok, I'm here...” they watched as the sun rose high enough to leave an orange trail across the sky above the trees. 

“Jack....?”

“Yeh?” 

“Thank you....”

“You're welcome”

Daniel's hand clutched Jack's as he felt himself slipping, Jack could feel his own emotions bubble to the surface, he tried to push them down. “I love you....Jack...”

Jack closed his eyes, he could feel the sting against his eyes; He placed a light kiss against Daniel's forehead, pulling him in tighter. “I love you too, Daniel” the tears stung his eyes as he felt Daniel's hand slip lightly from his own and fell limp against him. 

Jack could only hold him tighter until he no longer felt him beside him, no longer there....he had faded away, just like Janet said. It was painless and comfortable, Jack felt good knowing he gave Daniel those last moments of happiness. He felt an incredible loss, like he'd really lost him...but he could try and at least be ok with the thought that their Daniel was ok. But that didn't stop him from feeling the loss anyway, he looked to his side where Daniel had been; his ring, the dog tags and a small bit of paper was still sat on the frosted dock beside him. Jack picked up the silver ring with a small smile and then the piece of paper. As he turned it over, he saw them; Daniel and the other Jack, smiling happily together. He sighed and fought the tears that wanted to fall, he grabbed the tags; pushed up upon his knees and leant over the dock. Using a broken piece of wood, he chipped the ice from the lake and it cracked and fell apart, leaving a gaping hole. Jack placed the ring and tags on top of the picture and then placed the picture gently on the water. He watched as it floated a little and then moved and slid under the ice. 

Jack stood up with his hands in his pockets “Goodbye Daniel”


	2. Chapter 2

Jack sighed as he pulled up to the SGC, he showed his ID badge at the gates and then proceeded down the path to get where he needed to be. 

He slumped against the elevator, the loss of the other Daniel was still lingering in his mind, to think that the man could just let go like that. Jack shook his head as the elevator doors opened with a ping; he nodded to the airmen at the desk and signed himself in. He walked a bit further down, Sam, Janet and Teal'c met him half way to the infirmary where he knew they'd be. “Sir? Is Daniel-?” Sam asked, stopping in front of him. 

Jack's expression was solemn “He's gone, just like you said, he faded away in my arms-” Sam nodded slowly, trying not to show her emotions. “Don't worry, he was where he wanted to be”

“Yes sir...” Jack smiled a little and held his arms out

“Come here” Sam wrapped her arms around him and he let her seek his comfort for a while. 

Janet smiled a little as Teal'c offered his comfort any way he could as he wrapped an arm around her. She thanked him as she pat his hand that was over her shoulder. “Daniel Jackson will be returning to base soon will he not?” he said softly. 

Sam pulled away from Jack with a small smile “Yeah, I just got a call from him; said he'll be here in approximately ten minutes”

Daniel walked through the SGC corridor after signing back into the base. Daniel was just grateful to be back and that it was over. He made his way to the elevator and rode the floors leading to level 28. As he entered the briefing room, the rest looked up at him in solemn silence, Daniel walked slowly toward the table. He got this sneaking feeling that something bad had happened. “Hey guys, what's going on? You don't look very happy-” Daniel's eyes widen as looked at his team “Nothing happened while I was gone right?” They shifted uncomfortably, Daniel looked over at Jack, he had that Same guise up he used when he didn't want to talk about emotions. Daniel sat down on the first chair closest to him, “Who did we lose?” he then asked, it was the first thing to rule out in a gut feeling like this one. 

Everyone glanced at each other before Sam looked at him and said “You”

Daniel raised an eyebrow “Um...what? I am alive right?” he held his palm out to Jack. “Feel my pulse”

Jack batted his hand away “Daniel for crying out loud you're alive” 

Daniel looked at him with surprise “Ok, I'm alive... then how did you lose me?”

They share glances at each other again and then the General coughed awkwardly before letting Sam and the others fill them in......

Daniel just sat back in the chair, mouth hanging open like a fish when they finally finished telling him the details. Sam had explained the events that had happened since the other Daniel came through their Stargate, Teal'c piped in on some parts and Jack had filled them in on the last bits.

Daniel was too shocked to respond, he slowly leaned forward again; he had to say something. “I um-I have no idea what to say to any of that-” 

“Neither did we” Jack replied

Daniel glanced over at him “So we-”

“Yep”

“As in- we- You and me-together”

“Yes” 

“Huh. That must have been uncomfortable”

“Ya think?”

“Um...so, let's talk about the other important issue here-” Jack noticed how he carefully steered the conversation away from his sexual orientation. Interesting.  
“This warning he gave- I gave, whatever- have we found anything at all that might tell us if there is a Goa'uld here on earth?”

“Firstly, I'd like to know how the meeting in Washington went Doctor Jackson; we can discuss both matters now that you are here” the general said

“Right ok, well, you'll be pleased to know we won the argument; they've agreed to leave well enough alone, they know how important the program is and they're willing to let us continue running the full operation; including the alpha site”

“Nice” Jack said

“Congratulations Daniel Jackson” Teal'c said with a small smile

“Way to go Daniel, I knew you'd do it” Sam commented

Daniel smiled “Thanks, it er- it wasn't easy I have to say”

“In any case, well done” Hammond said

“How did you get them to agree?” Jack asked

“Err, well, Long story short, I was able to win the compelling argument only with the help of our good buddy Thor”

Sam smiled in surprise “Thor paid a visit?”

“Yep”

Jack looked at Sam “You know they're keeping a list right?” She grinned

“But how'd they know what was going on? Someone must have said something-” Sam said

“I did, it was not that I doubted your debating skills Doctor Jackson; I just thought that given the success of the last negotiation we had when Thor showed up; I thought you could use a hand” Hammond admitted

“I didn't mind at all general, thank you”

The general nodded and then his expression became serious again “Now about the Goa'uld”

“Right, did he say what this Goa'uld looked like?”

Jack shook his head “Nope, not a clue; his- memory was a little fuzzy after the incident” he told him

“So what do we really know?”

“Unfortunately not much, all we do know is that it's in a quiet town called pueblo; the other Daniel wrote the location down for us” Sam said

“So all we have is a location”?

“Indeed” Teal'c said

“That's descriptive”

“Isn't it?” Jack said

Hammond said “You'll just have to search the town yourselves, blend in if you have to, ask around to see if anyone has seen anything suspicious” 

“Which would require minimal defenses, side arms only, maybe just zats” Jack stated, making sure the general knew he was unhappy about that. 

“I do not believe that this Goa'uld poses a big threat; I believe he can be beaten with minimal defenses O'Neill, most of the system lords are dead”

“He managed to kill me” Jack stated

“Well from what you told me, he seems to only have limited means of weapons of his own so; and in the other reality he had the element of surprise, whereas we know about him now-” Daniel said

“Was there a point to that?”

Daniel stopped for a second “Huh. I thought there was-” Daniel then shrugged “I guess the point was that although we don't know what he looks like-or what he wants, we know what we're up against and we know what to look for”

“And my point is that we don't know what other crap he may have on him; we're working with limited knowledge here-”

Hammond sighed “I understand your concerns Colonel, I personally wouldn't send you walking into unknown circumstances; but given that this is our own back yard, and we've had no reports of any suspicious behavior, I think it's safe to say the Goa'uld does not want to be found just yet” 

“I believe you are correct General Hammond, and I do believe we have the necessary skills to successfully locate and defeat this enemy”

“You can leave when You've all had a chance to rest up” the general said as he stood up. They nod and proceed to walk out of the briefing room down into the corridors.

…........................

Daniel was sharing a cab with Sam, they were heading out to Pueblo to locate the unknown Goa'uld. He was really worried about his and Jack's friendship, there was clearly an awkward barrier between them now. “This doesn't look like any place a Goa'uld would want to hang out” Sam said

Daniel sighed “We're just going by what my other self said, I doubt he was wrong”

“You think he's really here?”

“I don't know, but I really don't think we should take the risk of not checking it out if he is” Daniel couldn't help but spot the historic area's, he wouldn't mind taking a leisure trip here one day. 

“How are you feeling with this? I mean, how are you coping with this reality side of you?”

“I really don't want to discuss that, especially around Jack, he already feels weird around me enough as it is”

“Daniel, he's not going to treat you any differently”

“That's not how it looks right now. Anyway, we've got more important things to think about; we should focus on the present”

“I'm here if you want to talk, but can I just say something?” Daniel nodded “I don't care if- you know”

“Um, I'm not”

Sam smiled, like she believed him. “Ok”

“But thanks”

Their cab pulled up outside a small motel. Then a few metres away, another cab pulled up in front of them. Daniel and Sam got out at the same time as Jack and Teal'c. They paid the fare and each of them made their way inside. The motel was small, accommodating standard rooms along a stretch of balcony. Jack held four fingers up as they reached the front desk. The man was chubby with a white shirt and dark pants, he shook his head. “Only one room left I'm afraid” 

Jack hit the desk lightly with his fist “Crap, I knew we should have called ahead” 

“No big deal, Jack; I can share with Sam, if that's all right with her” Sam shrugged, Daniel was like a little brother to her; there was no interest there. “You and Teal'c can find another one nearby”

The man then said “There is a motel not far down the road, turn left at the end and you'll see it eventually”

Jack sighed “All right, might be best if we split up anyway”

“I will take my leave to the next stay O'Neill, and I believe it best for Major Carter to follow me as well”

“What?” Jack said sharply

Sam knew Teal'c, she knew what he had planned “That's fine, it doesn't matter to me” She said. Teal'c gave her a look of thanks.

“I do believe that if SG1 were continue, that you and Daniel Jackson have something to work out, it is not good for a front line team to be in constant turmoil” 

Sam couldn't help but grin at Daniel's un-amused expression, Jack wasn't hiding his own annoyance either. Teal'c hid his grin well though, bowed his head and then left, Sam shrugged at them with a wave, as if she hadn't known what Teal'c was planning and then followed after. “Thanks a lot!” Jack shouted in mock gratefulness. 

Daniel shook his head, nothing got past the Jaffa did it? Personally he wasn't the one that felt awkward, he really didn't care about what had happened in another reality with him and Jack. Even if he did, Jack was as straight as they came. But Daniel knew Jack, that just the mere thought of them-in anything more then a friendship was bugging him, making him feel more then weirded out. The situation with the other Daniel must have been very strange indeed. But it happened, for some reason, clearly the two in the other reality had shared something intimate, deep and real; that couldn't be changed, so why the hell was it so hard for Jack to accept that?

“We'll take the room then, thanks” Jack finally said, after a few seconds of glaring at the door where Sam and Teal'c retreated out to. 

The man behind the desk reached around and took the last key off the hooks and handed it to Jack. “Names Bernie, any problems come see me; the rooms are pretty standard, but they're kept as nice as possible, you should have everything you need”

“Thank you” Daniel said, looking anywhere but at Jack. They made their way out and made a left turn for the stairs leading to the balcony. Daniel followed him to their room, keeping his eyes downcast. 

“Here it is” Jack said as they stopped in front of the door numbered 37. They walked in to find a dressing table, a small wardrobe, a bathroom on the opposite side and a double bed.

Jack glanced over at Daniel uncomfortably and then chucked his rucksack on the bed. “Should have got Teal'c and Sam to stay here, least we might have had a chance to at least have single beds”

Daniel huffed as he placed his rucksack on the floor beside the bed on the left side. “Why are you making this into such a big deal Jack? We've shared a tent off world, this shouldn't be awkward”

Jack just frowned and unzipped his bag, he fished out the radio and chucked it across the bed. “Radio Teal'c would ya? Ask if they managed to get a room ok, I gotta take a piss” Jack said as he then disappeared into the bathroom. 

Daniel rolled his eyes, what the hell possessed his other self to fall for such a hot head? He shook his head and clicked the radio, sighing as he sat on the bed. “Teal'c, Sam come in”

“I am here Daniel Jackson”

“Sam?”

“Here Daniel”

“You guys checked in ok?”

“Indeed”

“We managed two separate rooms”

Daniel couldn't help but give an irritated expression and a sigh to follow. “Glad to hear it”

“Are you and O'Neill unsatisfied with your accommodations?”

“Not. Unsatisfied. Just-”

“You will overcome the situation Daniel Jackson, we do have more pressing matters, O'Neill will not risk the matter at hand from his issues with you”

“Yeah, gee thanks Teal'c”

Daniel threw the radio on the bed as Jack emerged from the bathroom. “They in?”

Daniel stood up “Two separate rooms and everything” Daniel said with annoyance. 

“Son of a bitch, should have gone instead”

“Nothing we can do about it now” Daniel opened the door

“Where are you going?”

“To see if there's any extra blankets we can use for the floor” Jack frowned a little, he almost looked....hurt.

“See, you're just as weirded out”

“No Jack, it's just that I know that you are; I just thought I'd help you get over it”

Jack winced as Daniel slammed the door, it wasn't bothering him in the way Daniel thought. He'd just watched the man die for crying out loud; all because of him no less, something like that you don't just 'get over'. But then again, he really hadn't gone into much detail about what happened at the end. He shook his head and grabbed his toothbrush from the side pocket of his bag. 

Once he'd emerged from the bathroom in grey sweats and an under shirt, Daniel came back with a slam of the door again. “No blankets?”

Daniel glanced over at Jack “Oh they do, they just don't apparently give out any extras”

“Yeah, I read it on the pamphlet here”

Daniel walked toward the bed “You read it in the pamphlet and you didn't think to say anything? You just let me make a complete ass of myself”

“Hey! I would have told you if you hadn't just stormed out of here like a damn kid throwing a tantrum”

“I was not throwing a tantrum”

“Riiiight, cause you've never done that” Daniel threw his bag on the bed and shuffled through it, after a moment he looked up at the ceiling with frustration. “Now what?”

“I forgot to pack an under shirt for the night”

“So? Just wear what you have on”

“This is the only other one I have, I didn't think we would be here that long”

Jack looked at him for a moment, then said “Sleep shirtless, I don't care” he had to try his damned hardest to pretend it was no big deal. He tried so hard not to picture sleeping next to Daniel topless. It use to be no big deal, but his feelings for Daniel were becoming harder to ignore. 

Daniel raised an eyebrow, was it just his imagination, or was Jack blushing? “You going to be ok with that?”

“It's not a big deal Daniel, it means nothing, obviously”

“If you say so” he pulled his toothbrush out and walked into the bathroom. 

 

Jack lay across the bed on his side and grabbed the radio. “Teal'c, come in”

“Go ahead O'Neill”

“Figure we'll head around the town at 0800, grab some breakfast and split up to start asking around”

“Understood O'Neill”

“Good”

“How are your accommodations?”

“Oh peachy”

“How are you and Daniel Jackson?”

“Brilliant..” Jack glared at the bathroom door “Sam?”

“All good here sir, I'll be ready, 0800”

“All right, get some rest, O'Neill out”

Jack placed the radio on the night stand just as Daniel emerged from the bathroom. He sincerely hoped Daniel didn't see the slight interest his sensitive area was showing right now. He felt his cock twitch. Christ. What was wrong with him?

Jack's eyes followed as Daniel made his way around to his side of the bed. Daniel wasn't sure, but he could have sworn Jack was being way more sceptical then usual. Jack glanced at him and Daniel stopped with his hand over the cover. “For Christsake Jack! I don't have the hots for you! I'm straight!”

“Ok! I get it Daniel!” Jack sat up, anger clearly showing on his face. What did the guy want from him? He thought he'd be happy about that.

“Then why are you acting So tense around me, like I'm going to jump you or something?”

Jack stood up then, he felt like a bunch of Ba'al's knives were being thrown at him again. Clearly, Daniel wouldn't have any intention of showing any interest in him “Daniel, this has nothing to do with your other self being gay; or my other self for that matter”

“Then what's going on? because you've been acting weird around me ever since”

“Forget it, it doesn't matter!”

“Oh it doesn't!? It obviously means something; and it involves me now spill. Right. Now”

“I can't!”

“Why!? This had better not be your damn military bravado crap! Because I am sick of you hiding behind masks! I've known you a long damn time Jack”

“That's the problem!”

“That doesn't make any sense!” Jack frowned, glaring and pacing; Daniel shook his head at him, glaring back. 

“You can't, you can't understand! We're friends...”

“Exactly, I'd have thought by now you'd trust me” Daniel was frailing his arms now

“I do!”

“Then why won't you tell me, there's no risk here, I don't think of you that way”

“So you keep saying, I get it”

Daniel was confused again “Argh! I don't get it, I don't know whether you're relieved or- will you just spit it out Jack! I want to help you”

“You can't!”

“Why not!?”

Jack spun around, staring Daniel dead in the face “I'm in love with you! There! Happy?”

Daniel stilled, open mouthed...... “You....what?” Daniel couldn't form much else. His mouth closed and then opened again. Did he hear right? “Are you- is this a joke?”  
Jack glared for a moment and let his gaze drop to the floor, then he backed up and sat on the edge of the bed. After a few moments, he shook his head. “You're serious?”

“I'm so sorry Daniel”

Daniel frowned, his forgotten anger boiling back to the surface “Are you kidding me!? What the hell Jack!?”

“I don't know! I told you I shouldn't have said anything! I wasn't suppose to! The air force would throw me out in a heartbeat! DADT is there for a reason”

“I don't care!” Daniel screamed, he walked up to Jack and grabbed him by the shirt “How long?”

“What?”

“How long have you-”

Jack searched Daniel's face, trying to read something that probably wasn't there. “Four years”

Daniel blinked “Four years....four years” Daniel released his hold “And- and you only decide on now to say something”

Jack looked at him in confusion, “I shouldn't have said anything at all”

Daniel scrubbed a hand over his face and through his hair; he leaned against the wall and slid down into a crouched position. “Why Jack? I don't understand”

“I don't know, I can't even remember how it happened. All I remember thinking at the time was what I would have done if I lost you...”

Daniel looked up then “My ascension...” he breathed out 

“That killed me....you have no idea how much”

“Jack....”

“I'd be lying if I'd only just discovered my feelings then, I loved you before that”

“Before that? How far back are we talking here?”

Jack gave a quick smile “After Abydos, back when I took you back to my place”

“What?”

“Yeah”

“Jesus Christ Jack!”

“I wasn't 'in love' with you then. I was. Attracted to you, I think. I don't know. But Sha're, I knew she meant the world to you; I was going to do everything I could to get her back for you”

“How noble” it came out more spiteful then he had intended it to

“I wouldn't have done anything, your heart belonged to Sha're, I respected that; you should know that”

Daniel sighed, his head thudding lightly against the wall as he leaned back. “Yeah I do. Sorry”

“I didn't want you to know, because I knew nothing would come of it. My feelings were better kept to myself”

“And I pushed you. I'm sorry, had I known-”

“It's ok, I will understand if you want to transfer to another unit”

Daniel stared over at him, the man was unbelievable; was he really that much of an idiot? “You're making assumptions, and jumping to conclusions as usual”

“Come on Daniel, we both know how awkward it'll be”

Daniel snorted and stood up, the stupid bastard, he wanted to deck him. “You son of a bitch”

“What?”

Daniel walked over and stood in front of Jack, the Colonel didn't dare look up. “Why don't you stop feeling sorry for yourself for once, get a clue Jack”

Jack did look up then, into Daniel's eyes; the man was- well, he was gorgeous, absolutely beautiful. 

“Daniel?”

“Get up off your ass Jack” Jack frowned, when did Daniel get so demanding? Still, he complied; though his heart was thudding a mile a minute. What was happening here? “You're an idiot”

“Thanks. But-”

“Jack, I swear to god if you don't kiss me now, after everything you just said I am going to kick your ass”

Jack's eyes widen “Really? I mean, you-”

Daniel smiled, that brilliant wonderful smile. Jack couldn't believe it; was this for real? After all this time? “Kiss me Jack”

Jack smiled, then huffed a laugh; he leaned forward and their lips mashed together in quick fiery passion. “Oh god Daniel. Waited so long...”

“I know... I know”

Jack pushed forward and they toppled across the bed. Jack braced himself on his hands either side of Daniel. “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite” 

Daniel laughed “Did you just- did you just quote Shakespeare?”

Jack smiled, although it looked more like a smirk “I guess I did” Daniel's eyes brightened and he pulled Jack to him and their lips met again. 

Soon enough, the two were stripped of their main clothes. Only residing now in their boxers. “Jack...I'm not an expert but-”

“It's ok, I don't much know about this either”

“Ok, but I was going to say, there's no lube; I'm pretty sure we need that”

“Oh, right. Yeah. But there are other ways we can-” Daniel smiled again, he had no idea what that smile did to him. 

“Just so you know, Jack. I'm not as “Naive” as you used to think”

“Daniel, I haven't thought that in a long time”

“Good, although, this is rather new”

Jack laughed “Ya think?”

Daniel leaned forward and kissed Jack hard, their bodies tensed when a spark of pleasure jolted between them as their cocks touched through fabric. Jack moved against him then, wanting to feel that spark again. “Jesus” he said softly against Daniel's lips. 

“Off” Daniel said, tugging at Jack's boxers. He didn't want to just feel him through the fabric, he wanted to 'feel' him. They quickly stripped themselves of their boxers, both hitching a breath as they felt skin contact, far better then the fabric. Jack buried his face in Daniel's neck, he kissed him and trailed his lips across his collar bone. Neither one knew much about what they were doing. But this was urgency, years of holding back, didn't save much time for slowness. Jack met Daniel's lips, the archaeologist then moved up, creating some friction. 

“Oh...” Jack followed Daniel's example, moving with him. “God”

“Jack...” the two continue, their kisses were hard, Jack grinded against him and Daniel met him equally. They moved with each other, trying to get as much contact as possible. “Touch me”

Still kissing with fierce passion, Jack moved one of his hands, laying it between them. Daniel arched when added pleasure was made by the extra friction caused by Jack's hand. Their grinding became faster then, more intense. “Daniel...shit...I-”

“It's ok, it's ok....come with me Jack”

Jack fell into a fit of ecstasy, hearing those words coming from Daniel. His Daniel. The man he had fallen in love with. Was this a dream? He had no time to contemplate it all as he heard his name and then felt warmth between them, wet blissful warmth. He cried out and thrust when he came. “Daniel!”

Jack twitched, freeing his hand, laying it at the side, his head resting against Daniel's chest, both spent, both breathless. 

Daniel managed to move his arm to stroke the back of Jack's head. “I love you too....”

Jack didn't have the strength to really move, but he lifted his head up, just to look at Daniel's face. “Serious?”

“You know me”

“I do”

“So, what now?”

“Don't know about you, but I think protocol calls for a shower”

“I meant with us”

“Does anything else matter?”

“I'm not following”

“Us. That's all that matters, but no one can find out Daniel”

“I know”

“But I don't care, I have you now”

“Me too”

.....................................................

The two were snuggled under the blanket now, feeling more at ease with each other then they had been in months. It was so new, they seemed to feel like they were more intuned to one another. They'd switched positions, so Daniel now lay on Jack's chest and Jack was leaned up against the pillows. “Remember when I said that he wanted to stay here? For his final moments?” Jack said suddenly

“Yeah, Sam said something like that”

“He came to the cabin; said that it was the last place he wanted to be. Daniel, you should have seen him, he'd given up, completely. He was so full of hurt and grief, he came here to die and- that was because of me; I did that to him.....I was there when he died; I held him and he died in my arms”

Daniel was speechless, he'd known his other self had gone, but he didn't know the full story. “I-I didn't know...It wasn't your fault Jack; sometimes- sometimes people who lose the one they love just- they give up”

“I tried to make it less scary for him, I-I even danced with him because I knew he-”

“I'm sure that meant a lot” Daniel didn't know what else to say, he could tell this had effected Jack; but not in the way he thought. 

“We went outside and watched the sun rise, and I held him as he faded away...” Daniel felt Jack tense underneath him, he stroked a hand gently over his sides.

“You did good Jack, that was a great thing”

“But if he loved me that much to just- what does that say about us? What if I die out on some off-world mission and- and you give up, what if you-?” 

“Shhh, it'll be ok Jack, you're military, you're stronger then that; Hell, if it weren't for you and the others, I would have given up when Sha're died”

“Yeah...”

“I'm serious Jack, why do you think I never told you? There's always something, no matter where we are; we'll be ok Jack, I know we will; I have confidence. I'm still alive because of you” Jack snorted “I never told you this before, but there's something I do remember from being ascended. After you were rescued from Ba'al, I was very tempted, so tempted to come back. To try anyway. Then when all that stuff happened with Anubis, I preyed, begged to be returned to you; I was so damn lucky they punished me the way they did; so lucky Oma helped”

“Why didn't you say something?”

“Really Jack?”

“Yeah, I guess I can see why”

Daniel kissed Jack's chest and snuggled down more into warmth “Night Jack”

“Night Daniel” Jack kissed the top of Daniel's head and switched off the overhead lamp.

They each checked out of the hotel and met up at precisely 0800 the next morning. They armed themselves with 9mm and hidden zats under their shirts and headed out to breakfast.

After eating at the local diner, they split up. Jack and Teal'c took the left side of the town, while Daniel and Sam took the right. Teal'c followed Jack into a small hardware store, Jack took his sun-rays off and placed them on top of his head as he spoke. “How's it going?” Jack greeted the middle aged man behind the counter. The guy nodded in greeting, “Got any spiral nails?” Jack then asked. 

“Yeah, think so; I'll just check out the back; got a new load of stock come in today, only half way done to putting it out”

“I'd appreciate it”

The guy left to search through the back while Jack and Teal'c waited.

“Spiral nails?” Teal'c questioned

“Well I do need some, first thing you gotta remember if you're a stranger in a town; act normal first. You can't come into a store and just start with the weird questions straight off, ya gotta ease into it”

“I understand”

The guy came back through with a small pack of nails “Got some, sorry it took so long; buried in the boxes ya know?”

“It's not a problem, they'll do fine”

“Two dollars, ninety five”

Jack nodded with a smile and fished out his wallet, placing a five on the counter. “Slow business today?”

The guy rang up the item and opened the cash register as he replied “Iffy on a Sunday, people don't really do a lot of DIY on Sundays; picks up Saturdays mainly”

“I bet” Jack took the nails and his change “Thanks”

“Do you happen to have, astroglide?”

Jack nearly collapsed in a heap, he choked on nothing; feigning a near coughing fit. “Um, I think you'll find-that sort of thing will be sold...um, in the chemist down the road...maybe”

How the hell Jack hid the embarrassment he'll never know, hell, Jack was impressed the guy was still standing up “I, think he means....Astro-turf, he's...from way out of town, sorry about that” although, Jack thought, he and Daniel could use some. He mentally shook those thoughts from his mind.

“Oh, right, sorry, we don't get a lot of that in stock; didn't come in this week anyway, there's a bigger hardware store just outside of the town, couple miles north”

“That's ok, don't need it right now” Jack said, taking a breath of relief that the conversation had steered elsewhere. “Get a lot of outside visitors?”

“Not ones that stay long, passers by maybe” Jack nodded “Although, strange fellow came in not too long ago; asked for weapons, ya know, guns,...well obviously we don't sell guns here. Told him to try the licence to shoot store across from the Barleys hotel. He talked real deep like too”

Jack glanced at Teal'c for a second, then back to the man “Um...didn't happen to notice anything else weird did you?”

“Apart from the voice, not really, you two cops or something?”

“No, just-”

“Concerned neighbors” Teal'c piped in

“Yeah, that'll do”

“Oh, you moved here?”

“No, but, we'll be around for now; we're just- that friendly”

“Kinda nice, someone that wants to lookout for people's safety and all that”

“About that” Jack began “Got a pen?” the guy nodded and gave Jack a pen, Jack leaned on the counter as he began to write on the back of the receipt. “Will ya call me if the guy shows up around here again?”

“Sure, I can do that I guess”

“Thanks” the two then left the store

“Should we have asked for a description perhaps?” Teal'c asked

“Yeah I was thinking about it, but I wanna keep our search on low key”

“That is wise”

Daniel and Sam entered a low lit store, it was full of mystic items, dream catchers, incenses, different shaped crystals. There were necklaces hung up in assortments, spell books on shelves, and a few items of clothing hung on a small rack to the side of the store. 

“Welcome” the woman behind the counter greeted pleasantly. 

“Hi” Sam greeted back, she made a point of touching a few items on a hanging rack, making it look like she was casually browsing. Daniel followed her example and began to browse the incenses; he had never bothered with them because sometimes it made his allergies play up. He moved onto the spell books and snorted, he used to know someone that was into all that spell ritual crap. Someone in high school, used to completely freak everyone out; Daniel wasn't really that fazed by her, which led them to be friends for a while until she moved to Italy. Sam then smiled at the cashier as she picked up a crystal necklace. 

“That'll look great on you” the woman said 

“Think so?”

Daniel picked up an ornament of a skull with a sword through it. He shook his head in a 'what the hell' manner and put it back. 

“Don't think it's really me” Sam said

Daniel came back to stand beside Sam, preparing to slip a question in at any moment “This town seems quiet, is business good?” Daniel asked

Sam looked at him 'That was your subtle?' she thought

“We get the few in daily, regulars who get some incense every now and then; people who come in when they've specially ordered something. Does all right, why you ask?”

“Just curious, I'm just visiting, passing by; the town seems nice”

“Oh yeah, friendly bunch here; everyone mainly keeps to themselves to be honest. We get visitors too, tourists attract and all”

Daniel nodded

“Any bother to you?” Sam asked

“Who are you two, the watch police?”

“We're not the watch police, just- we're something like...neighborhood safety inspection-” Daniel almost winced at his own excuse, ok, so he could have come up with something better. But they really didn't have time to drag anything out. 

“Now that you mention it; heard around the town from the customers coming in here; some guy hanging around a lot lately. Kind of weird sounding, always looks as if he's studying you. Not been a problem really, don't see him often enough; but people do find those sort odd. My friend bill who owns license to shoot. Told me the guy tried to buy a small hand gun. Of course there's a two week wait and a background check has to be done. The guy signed the form for it, told bill he'd wait the two weeks” Daniel and Sam glanced at each other; two weeks.....that was when the other Daniel had said the whole incident with Jack had happened.

“Can you describe him?” Daniel asked.

“What is this? Really? You come into my store and ask all these weird questions; but you don't even buy anything-”

Daniel sighed in annoyance, he picked up a pack of incense and placed it on the counter.

“We'd really appreciate anything you can tell us about this new guy in your town” Sam said “Can you describe him?” 

“Don't see him often enough for a full description off the top of my head, but; I can do one better” she said as she fished through a set of pictures. “Have to keep a file of pictures of people that look shifty, for surveillance purposes” she then handed Daniel a photo taken recently of the said man they were talking about. He didn't recognise him, and they thought they'd met enough Goa'uld, he probably wasn't a system.

“Can I keep this?”

“Um- sure ok but-is he dangerous?”

“No, um, just-yes, my advice is close up and stay at home”

“But-” 

“Thanks”

Sam smiled at the woman as she then followed after Daniel outside. “Daniel, come in” Jack's voice came through on his radio

Daniel clicked his radio “Yeah?” 

“Where are you? Might have something on this guy”

“Us too, hopefully, we're just outside a store that sells mystic objects and candles; or something like that”

“Ok, Teal'c and I are heading back to the diner; meet us there when you're done”

“Will do”

“All right, O'Neill out”

Daniel and Sam walked into the diner, quickly meeting Jack and Teal'c at a table near the back.   
“Daniel” Jack said as they both sat opposite them. The two shared a look, a look only for the two of them, unbeknownst to the other two.

Daniel slid the picture across the table. Jack picked it up, he then gave it to Teal'c “Recognize him?”

“His name is Khufu, he is known among the system lords, however he poses no threat in rank”

“He was the second Pharoah of the fourth Dynasty in ancient Egypt, he's also known as Khnum among Earth deity. His past is unclear mostly, but what information that has been found, he wasn't very nice; apparently”

“Shocking” Jack said

“How'd he get here undetected from our radars?” Sam said

“Rings, cloaked ship; who knows. But. Now we know what he looks like and what he's most likely after. We have to find him” Daniel said seriously. 

“Indeed, it is most likely he wants to take over this planet; taking over the Tau'ri would place him in great power among the system lords, therefore we cannot allow him to leave this town” Teal'c said

“Let's just hope he hasn't brought any more of his buddies along with him. we find him and act now” Jack said as he stood up. They followed suit and then left money for the coffees and walked out of the diner. 

“Good thing is, the town isn't that big” Daniel stated. “And there's something else, the woman at the store, whose friends with someone named Bill at the license to shoot shop said he signed a form for a two week wait on a weapon”

“Any idea what kind?” Jack asked

“She just said a small gun, it's probably just a 9mm, but still”

Jack nodded, “Right, nice work; it also means that if he's in need of a weapon, he likely didn't have anything when he got here”

The rest nod in agreement, at least that was something.

“Daniel, you go with Sam and see if he shows up” Jack then pointed to the right. “Teal'c and I will go that way and check near the Barley's hotel, saw an old building down there earlier; think it's abandoned. He might be hiding in there. Radio the second you spot him, and try to avoid a confrontation at the first sighting, we don't wanna arouse any unnecessary suspicions” 

'Avoid confrontation, something tells me you're avoiding me Jack' Daniel thought

They nod and then split up again 

Jack and Teal'c made their way through the town, more tense now that they knew who they were looking for. “This Goa'uld will not be easy to locate O'Neill”

“I'm sorta hoping he won't expect us to find him here yet” Jack's cell phone then rang, Jack brought it out of his pocket. “O'Neill”

“Hi, it's Pete, from the hardware store”

“What can I do for you Pete?”

“Well you said to call if that guy shows up” Jack tapped Teal'c's shoulder to stop him from walking. Teal'c turned his attention to him.

“Go ahead Pete, you're on speaker” 

“Colonel Jack O'Neill”

Jack frowned "Who is this?"

"Where are the rest of your team?"

"None of your damn business, what do you want?"

Khnum laughed "I was quite surprised to find you here"

"What are you doing here? How did you get to earth?"

"Oh, questions questions; Jack, can I call you Jack? You are the famous leader of SG1 after all, destroyer of system lords"

"Get to the point!"

"To what reason are you here Khnum?" Teal'c said

"Ah! Teal'c is it? The shol'va!" Jack and Teal'c exchanged annoyed looks "And where is the brilliant minded Daniel Jackson? Or the beautiful Samantha Carter? She who would make a beautiful queen"

"Bite me snake head!"

"You came here to find me did you not? I can arrange that, perhaps even spare this puny man I have held here"

"Khnum! leave these people out of this, they've done nothing to you!" The Goa'uld just laughed and the phone hung up. Jack looked at Teal'c and they both broke into a run. "That damn Goa'uld was there all that time, Hopefully we can catch him off at the store!" Jack then fished out his radio as they continued to run. “Daniel! Carter! We found him! He's at the hardware store; Teal'c and I are gonna try and catch him there!”

Daniel and Sam broke into a run in the opposite direction to where they were walking. “We're on our way Jack! We'll meet you there” Daniel shouted back into his radio. 'Shit! Be careful Jack' Daniel tried not to think about the other reality. Jack was not going to die.

Jack ran across the road, dashing to the side at the same time to avoid an oncoming car, the driver cursed at him through the window. Teal'c ran ahead of Jack as they neared the store. The two ran into the store, Beretta's aimed. “Pete?” Jack called as they slowly stepped around the store. “Pete? It's Jack; you here?” Jack stepped around one isle and then turned back to Teal'c. “No sign”

Teal'c turned and walked down further toward the counter, he glanced at Jack, telling him he'd heard something. Jack moved to the side holding his gun at arms length toward the counter, Teal'c the other side doing the same. Together they looked over the counter and found a curled up shivering Pete. They lowered their guns “He was gonna kill me”

“Where'd he go?” Jack asked

“O'Neill!” Teal'c shouted, spotting the Goa'uld to the side of them, coming up the isle. Jack turned around to fire his weapon, Khnum aimed his makeshift weapon he had and a few nails shot forth. Jack hissed as one of the nails shot into his hand. Teal'c body slammed the Goa'uld and they both fell into the shelving, Khnum kicked him in the face and narrowly avoided a couple of bullets as Teal'c fired his weapon. The Goa'uld legged it out of the store just as Daniel and Sam were running up the road. Daniel ran into the store as Teal'c was getting to his feet, Sam coming up behind.

“You guys ok?” Daniel asked hastily, frantically, his heart was pounding.

“Son of a bitch!” Jack yelled as he plucked the nail from his hand, holding it up. He grabbed his gun, which he'd dropped when he was attacked.

“What happened?” Daniel asked as he fished out his bandanna from his pants pocket

“The bastard shot me with a damn nail gun” Jack replied as Daniel tied the bandanna around his hand. 

“Are you ok Teal'c?” Sam asked

“Indeed”

Jack winced as he shook his hand, trying to flex it. “Did anyone see where he went?”

Sam pointed in the direction away from the store “We think he headed up toward that old building you saw sir” she said

“Let's hope we can catch him before he does any real damage” Jack said as they ran out of the store. Pete peered over the counter top shakily and then stood up when he realized everyone had gone. He stared around the store and groaned inwardly as he assessed the damage done to his store 

SG1 ran across the road and darted up the hillside, heading toward the building that had been abandoned. They stopped at the entrance, the building was two stories high and every part of the walls were cracked. Moss was overgrowing in corners and the floors had seen better days. 

“Maybe we can just wait here and hope that the building collapses on him” Daniel said, he was worried now; worried for Jack, what if the reality had shifted and something happens now?

“Can't wait any longer, if we don't take him out now; he'll escape again and we'll never get a better opportunity like this” Jack said

They carefully made their way into the building, the floors creaked every now and then with their steps. Jack signaled for Teal'c and Sam to take the left side of the first level, he and Daniel then took the right. Weapons at hand.  
“Jack, are you avoiding me-”

“This is so not the time Daniel, but I'm not avoiding you”

“Felt like you were”

“Daniel” Jack's voice was one of warning

“Sorry”

Sam walked behind Teal'c as they turned into a corridor “Did you know this Goa'uld?”

“Not well, he was not, as your phrasing goes, that big of a deal”  
Sam grinned

Daniel followed Jack through a broken archway, a piece of ceiling tile collapsed near them. “Ok, I have a question, what happens when we start to open fire in this place?”

“Try not to think about it”

“Oh, good answer”

“Ask a stupid question Daniel, get a stupid answer” Jack slowly peered around the corner. “Besides, there's a good chance we can get out before it collapses”

“That makes me feel muuuch better”

Jack held up a fist to halt him, they stopped and stayed quiet. A nail shot into the wall inches from Jack's face. “Whoa....” they look to the right and spot Khnum standing meters from them with the tool aimed at them. “Run” Khnum punched out nails with the tool repeatedly as Daniel and Jack ran along the wall side. “Teal'c! We need back up! Can't return fire right now”

“Understood”

“We're on our way sir” Sam shouted back. 

The two dived separate ways behind temporary cover points. Jack breathed out deeply, his injured hand was throbbing. Daniel felt pain in his right leg, he moved it into the light; blood glistened in the faint glow of the lamp beside him. 

Jack spotted Teal'c and Sam at the archway. He glanced over at Daniel and made a whispered noise to get his attention. Daniel looked up and Jack signaled to them all to open fire on the count of three. Daniel tried to point at his leg, to indicate there was something wrong with it. He couldn't see it very well but he had a feeling that two nails were embedded in his upper thigh. 

“This is where you will all meet your end, SG1”

Jack counted on his fingers, one, two, three. Jack raised up quickly and was the first to take aim and fire. Daniel ignored his injury for now and leaned up on his good leg and followed suit. Khnum had ducked in time and then Teal'c and Sam came in and took action also. Khnum dived behind a large unit and then out through the opposite doorway. Jack stood up, then he ran to follow; Teal'c and Sam took the left exit of the room to try and catch him out. “Daniel! Come on!” Jack shouted behind him as he ran out of the room.

“All right, I'm coming!...” Daniel shouted back as he half ran half limped after them. They followed him for a few minutes and then they'd somehow lost him inside a larger room.  
“Judging by all the shelves, I'd say this room used to be some sort of library maybe...” he leaned against the far wall, leaning forward for a moment. 

“Daniel? you ok?” Sam said

“Yeah, I'm fine” Daniel said as he straightened up again.

“This has to be where he went, he couldn't have gone anywhere else” Jack said as he moved forward. 

Sam squinted as she heard movement in the far back of the room. She aimed her weapon up “You're outnumbered, show yourself” she said as the rest follow suit. 

“It really has been a bizarre twist that I ended up here on your back water planet”

Daniel just glared as he clicked off the safety on his gun. 

“Surrender Khnum, it's over” Jack said

“Surrender? Why would I do that?” they all raised their weapons higher when Khnum raised his hands up. “I hadn't expected this part of my plan to come into play just yet. But, if I really am to go” he said and then grinned as he opened up his raised hands. “I really will be glad you're all going with me” he finished, Jack took note of the blinking red light in his hand. 

“BOMB!! EVERYBODY GET DOWN!!” it was the last thing they heard Jack yell before everything went Kaboom. From the force of the explosion, everyone was sent flying as they tried their best to shield themselves at the same time. 

Jack coughed as he stumbled in the thick smoke, he pushed aside a tipped over chair, stumbling and coughing again. He tried to cover his mouth with his sleeve, he could barely see a thing. “--Daniel!...” Jack grabbed hold of the wall beside him, breathing heavily. “Teal'c!--” he moved a hand over his side as he shifted forward. “Carter!....can anyone hear me!?” Jack rested against the wall, this was so not the way he'd thought this was going to go down. The crazy bastard blew himself up, what the hell kind of Goa'uld was he? That sure wasn't their MO. They were damn lucky the whole thing hadn't collapsed around them. Well, Jack didn't want to rule that out yet; he looked around, the area was completely destroyed, from whatever Jack could see. He should really get the hell out of this place; but at the moment, the most important thing was to locate his other team mates............

Jack ignored the shooting pain in his side as he stumbled forward again; brushing aside any large objects that were in his way. The mild injury from his hand was nothing compared to the swelling and sharpness in his chest. Couldn't rest, not yet; had to find the others, had to find Daniel. Jack could have sworn he saw movement to the right of him, he shoved a desk out of the way and it crumbled in the process. He looked up when the ceiling above him creaked and crumbled slightly. They really needed to get out of this place. Jack moved closer and then stopped for a moment when a person sat up slowly; at first he dreaded it might be the Goa'uld, surely there was no way in hell Khnum was alive after that. He moved forward and quickly knelt down when he saw who it was. 

“Daniel!” 

Daniel made a groan of short pain as he shifted more to sit up. “Ah!...”

“Are you ok? Are you hurt?”

“I think...I'm ok, just- didn't expect-”

“No, neither did I, can you stand up?”

“Yeah...I think so” Jack grabbed Daniel's hand and hauled him to his feet, ignoring the pressure it put on the strain of his own injuries. Daniel collapsed against him when he put weight on his leg. Jack half caught him and they staggered to the wall, Jack leant Daniel against it. 

“Leg?” Jack questioned him

“Yeah, nails I think- not really a big deal” Jack knelt down to try and access the damage himself, Daniel noticed how hard Jack was breathing. “Jack?”

“You got two nails in your thigh, I'm no doctor Daniel, but I'd say they're not in the best place. If I pull them out now-I could do more damage, but if they stay in-it's gonna hurt more”

“Then just do it, the damage is already done anyway right?”

Jack nodded, wincing as he shifted and coughed a little; Daniel frowned down at him. “Ready? I'll try and be as quick as I can” Daniel nodded and braced himself against the wall. “Actually, you better sit down”

Daniel allowed Jack to help him sit, he hoped the others were ok. “Is the wound bad?”

“I don't know if this is gonna make it worse, if I do this”

“Just do it Jack, I mean the amount of times I've been shot, zatted-just do it”

“I get the whole just-another-day thing, but the nails have gone into an artery, I think”

“Do it anyway...it's--yeah”

Jack rolled his eyes, maybe he'd trained Daniel too well “Ok..here goes, on the count of three- one” and then he pulled a long nail out. Daniel grabbed hold of Jack's shoulder with a muffled cry of protest. “Good...sorry, ok, one more to go, ready?”

“I knew you were going to do that” Daniel opened his eyes, he registered his hand on Jack's shoulder and pulled away. “Sorry”

“For crying out loud Daniel” Jack held his other hand out “If it hurts, just say so” Daniel looked embarrassed for a few seconds and then nodded as he grabbed hold of Jack's hand. Jack nodded and took a rattled breath trying his best to refrain from coughing. He carefully and quickly pulled out the other nail and felt Daniel's hand squeeze his momentarily. “Ok?” Daniel nodded a little and let go of Jack's hand, he wasn't sure what was allowed when on duty. “Put pressure here a second” Jack told him as he took the bandanna from his right hand and began to wrap it just under the wounded area. “That'll have to do for now, stay here while I go search for Teal'c and Carter”

“I'll go with you-”

“No, sit-”

“Jack, I know you're injured too-what is it? Chest? Stomach?”

Jack frowned and shrugged a little “Think I cracked a couple of ribs in the explosion; I'm fine Daniel”

“That's fine? That's your fine? All that fuss over my leg and you've got broken ribs?”

“I don't wanna go into this with you right now, I'm your CO, it's my job to make sure my team are ok first, damn it Daniel your leg is more damaged then you think it is”

“No worse then you, you could have internal bleeding”

“O'Neill!” they heard Teal'c shout for them. 

Jack turned around to see Teal'c heading toward them, Sam held protectively in his arms cradle style. “She ok?” Daniel asked as Jack helped him to his feet.   
“She has suffered a head injury, but we should get out of here as quickly as possible”

The building creaked again as it started to crumble more. “Good idea” Jack said, they ran as fast as they could out of the building with their team mates against them. As soon as they made it out of the building, it cracked and collapsed into a loud heap. They stared at it for a few moments without a word. “Well, we're all still alive; that's something-” Jack said through shallow breaths. 

“Indeed”

…......................................

Janet pushed Daniel back against the bed. SG1 were now safely in the clutches of the familiar infirmary “Where do you think you're going? Daniel, you will sit there, you will not complain, and you will rest” Daniel opened his mouth to protest and then closed it again when she looked sternly at him. 

Jack laughed a little and then winced with a cough. “Do as your told Danny boy-” Daniel glared over at him, but couldn't help smile a little. There'd be time for him and Jack later.

“That goes for you too colonel” Janet said sternly back. 

“Yes ma'am” Jack said with hunched shoulders. Sam smiled in amusement as she came in, she had been the first to leave the infirmary, her injury was mild. She tutted at the boys.

“They causing trouble Janet?”

“As always” Janet said, smiling, even though she was frustrated with the both of them. Don't think she didn't know they snuck out of their beds at night. The general then joined them.

“How are they doctor?”

“General, they're going to make full recoveries IF they rest. The Colonel suffered a couple of broken ribs and a fracture to his right hand. Teal'c has a broken arm but should recover within a day or two thanks to the tretonin. Daniel suffered damage to his femoral artery, he lost quite a bit of blood, luckily it wasn't too deep and was clean enough for the blood to stop it's flow eventually, he was very lucky. I recommend a week at the most of recovery” 

“Very well, it is good to see you all alive and well; a job well done”

“Thank you sir, it was nothing” Jack said, They looked over at him in an annoyed huff but he just kept grinning.

……...............

Jack was by the lake, skimming rocks out onto the ice, it was strange to skim rocks on ice, it was like playing an odd game of shuffle-board. 

"It's still bothering you, isn't it?" He heard Daniel's voice behind him as the man came up to his side on the crutches Janet gave him. “About what happened before, with the other me”

Daniel didn't expect an answer, he never did; Jack knew that Daniel would ask his question, and whether or not it got answered, Jack would still know that Daniel would be there and was there for him. 

"It's not just about the fact you died on me....again. It's the way you looked, the way you had shut down completely, gave up...wanted to die" Daniel didn't say anything   
"The most frightening thing is that all that time, it was because of me; all that heartache and pain you'd shown was because of me...Daniel, I need you to promise me that; if something happens to me, for the love of god please don't get like that, the same way."  
"Jack-”

"I need YOU to promise me”

"Ok, I promise"

"There's something else..."

"Ok..." Daniel felt fear creep up in his spine, was Jack having second thoughts?

"Promise me that you won't ever get to a point where you give up, shut down and want to die, promise me you'll fight, you'll keep fighting until you really can't do nothing else. I don't ever wanna see you that way again"

"Is this about the other me? Or is this about something else...we rarely ever talked about my ascension"

"Both actually, promise me Daniel...because it's getting to a point where I can't keep losing people I care about....I don't think I can take much more, I'm too old for this crap, cause If I lose you again I may just go fucking insane"

Daniel was at a loss for words; he had no idea that Jack was this close to the breaking point. "I'll try"

"Can't accept that, not try, will"

"I will Jack, I won't stop fighting; ok?"

"That your word?"

"That's my promise"

Jack nodded, then finally turned to face him. "Good, and the next time you ascend, I'll kick your ass back down myself" Daniel nodded, he truly believed Jack would find a way to do it too. "How's the leg?"

"Not too bad, and you?"

"Healing, be fine in a week"

“Good” Daniel smiled, that smile turned to a grin “I have something for us when you are healed”

Jack cocked his head to the side “Why Doctor Jackson, you bad boy”

“Problem?”

“Hardly” 

“Mmm....something is” Daniel said as he pushed himself up against Jack 

“Down boy, we don't wanna go back to the infirmary” Jack grinned, who knew Daniel could be like this? It was kind of exciting. Daniel laughed and leaned in to kiss Jack, gently.

“I was worried today”

“Hey, this is one reality where I don't die, again”

“Better not” 

Jack returned the kiss “I love you”

“About time”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if this seemed to drag on, I wanted to write some detail on finding the Goa'uld as well as Jack and Daniel dealing with their feelings. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the first 
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


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